Victoria Pendleton
British cyclist
A vet, but I wasn’t smart enough.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What most recently made you cry?
Identity & self
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
A dress designer.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
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Busta Rhymes
American rapper
I always wanted to be a rapper.
Edward Enninful
Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist
In African families, you can be one of three things: a doctor, a lawyer or a failure. I wanted to be an Egyptologist, but things worked out in the end.
Edward Fox
British actor
To be able to play the piano like Artur Schnabel.
More from Stockard Channing
View profile →Don’t answer every question you’re asked.
Climate change.
At the election of Joe Biden, thinking we were out of the woods. Wrong.
“Let’s face it, you’re not Ingrid Bergman.” I was 19 and he was a potential boyfriend. My only thought at the time was: “I’m not?”
Not keeping off the last 5lbs.
Fifteen years ago, I totally forgot my lines on stage and was mortified. We skipped two pages of dialogue and took three minutes off the play – to the delight of the audience!
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