Lucy Beaumont: Which trait in yourself do you like least? — FLAPSS

The question

Which trait in yourself do you like least?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

LB

Lucy Beaumont

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Thinking that I’m right when I’m wrong. But not only that – being able to convince other people I’m right and then finding out I’m wrong.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Laziness and procrastination.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2010 source ↗

Clare Bailey Mosley

Time blindness.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 December 2025 source ↗

I’m quite stubborn.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 August 2023 source ↗

James Norton English actor

I have a habit of sabotaging the moment in pursuit of perfection.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 July 2022 source ↗

More from Lucy Beaumont

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Question How would you sum yourself up in three words? Identity & self

Lovely but useless.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Question What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? Failure & regret

Some man in the street stopped me and said: “If you were a few inches taller you’d be dangerous.” I’ve no idea what he meant.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Question What thought won't let you sleep? Daily life

Thinking I’ve upset somebody.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Question What do you fear most? Identity & self

Losing my makeup bag.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

I remember going to my auntie Pauline’s house in winter when I was eight or nine and she made me a roast beef sandwich. I ate it and fell asleep next to a fire. I felt like a cat, fed and left to nap.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Question What is the worst job you have ever had? Craft & work

I worked in a paper factory at five o’clock on a Saturday morning when I was in my early 20s. I’d go out raving the night before, get an hour’s sleep and then go to the factory. I was covered in paper cuts and used to think I heard people talking to me; they gave me a lot of breaks because they thought I was going mad.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

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