Mary Portas: What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

The question

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

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Mary Portas

English retail consultant

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Not being able to take up my place at Rada.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2012 source ↗

Others on this question

Alison Steadman British actress

Not making a movie with Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2009 source ↗

Not joining the circus.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 July 2026 source ↗

Philip Treacy Irish-born haute couture milliner

My friends dying: Alexander (McQueen), Isabella (Blow), a friend of cancer last year.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 August 2014 source ↗

Sally Hawkins British actress

Realising that I wasn't a fairy changeling child and that David Bowie wasn't the fairy king.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 July 2011 source ↗

My wife, Melanie. She's had real trauma and loss in her life, yet she starts every day with joy, and sees the world as a good place

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2012 source ↗

Now. Without a doubt

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 March 2012 source ↗

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