The question
As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?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 drunk woman who threw epic dinner parties.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗
A doctor, a painter, an actress.
For me, it was just a thrill. I just remember thinking at that time, this is the sort of thing I would like to do, if I could. I did not come from a family of scientists. My father was a lawyer, my older brother was a lawyer.
An elevator operator.
When I ruin someone else’s story because I think mine is better, so butt in before they’ve finished theirs.
Hungry, hard-working, cats.
Perimenopausal anxiety, the terrible feeling of impending doom, something awful happening to my children, writing deadlines. Apart from that, I’m quite chilled.
Not winning Celebrity MasterChef. I am still gutted, despite many months of pretending to be fine with it.
The early days of motherhood. We lived in a sweet little bungalow in LA that had a pool. We threw lots of parties. We had a cute dog and a mad Siamese. Trump had never been president, we’d never heard of coronavirus, Claire’s Accessories was still going strong. Good times.
My Auntie Jane. She took me in, aged 10, and, after my mother died, healed my broken heart by filling our dining room with food and people. Still cooking at the grand old age of 89. My icon.
Pauline McLynn, David Gandy, Andrea Bocelli, Kim Wilde, Adwoa Aboah, Gareth Bale
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