Jake Shears: What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

The question

What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

Originally asked

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

This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.

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

Jake Shears

Singer and songwriter; co-lead vocalist of Scissor Sisters

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

The realisation that I am no longer young.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 367 →

David Gandy British model

Realising I was never going to achieve the grades to become a vet.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 April 2020 source ↗

Nicholas Hoult English actor

I don't really have disappointments, because I build myself up for rejection.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 July 2010 source ↗

Kelsey Grammer American actor

It would have to be the justice system in Colorado, which is not geared toward taking care of victims. The guys who killed my sister in 1975 always come up for parole every year.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 June 2016 source ↗

Sue Townsend English writer and humorist

Losing my independence.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 January 2007 source ↗

More from Jake Shears

View profile →

Question Who deserves an apology from you, and for what? Failure & regret

To the Scissor Sisters. Back in the day, I could be an absolute monster; I was a real asshole.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question If you had only one day left, how would you spend it — and what would you deliberately avoid? Death & what remains

It would definitely involve lots of sex. I would spend the afternoon having some crazy passionate declarative sex with my husband.

Recorded Clash, Last Day On Earth, 29 June 2012 source ↗

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

Getting older and dying.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question How close have you come to dying? Death & what remains

Five years ago, a concrete plug, a little bigger than a baseball, fell off a building on Hollywood Boulevard when I was riding in an open convertible. It shattered the windshield. It really shook me. I still have it on my mantel.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Question Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought? Money & investment

A Henry Darger painting. Sadly, I lost it in the divorce, but it was a great parting gift.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 July 2021 source ↗

Also answered this

Roger Taylor, Rick Astley, Mandy Patinkin, Jo Nesbø, Kevin Rowland, Robbie Williams

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

All failure & regret questions
The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject

Report this answer

Others on this question

More from Jake Shears

More on failure & regret

Also answered this

Explore further