Johannes Radebe: What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

The question

What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you?

Originally asked

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

A fixed Guardian Q&A prompt asked directly across respondents and years.

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

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I’ll never amount to anything. Who? He was my rival at dance school. It hurt and is something that I’ve always had in the back of my head to defy.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 March 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Julian Lloyd Webber British cellist and conductor

When the surgeon told me I wouldn’t be able to play the cello again, in 2013. I have a herniated disc and it’s pressing on a nerve in my neck. I announced I was stopping playing in 2014. I absolutely did not want to stop.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗

Fran Healy Scottish musician

“Everyone hates you.” (My manager, a long time ago.)

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 July 2024 source ↗

Alison Steadman British actress

A critic once said she wanted to lift a carpet, put me under it and hold it down until I stopped moving.

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

Kate Humble

“We’d love you to be on the cover of our magazine and we’ll give you a makeover.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 December 2023 source ↗