Helen Skelton: What would you most want to leave your children? — FLAPSS

The question

What would you most want to leave your children?

Originally asked

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

Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.

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

HS

Helen Skelton

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Good memories. When I’m gone, I want them to feel that they were always my No 1 priority.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Clare Bailey Mosley

That they were loved.

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

A house in west London.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 January 2026 source ↗

Dawn O’Porter

My Siamese cat, which I had freeze-dried after she died. I really think their future partners will like it.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗

I don’t have children. I will leave my nieces money because girls need money of their own. Anything to make women independent.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗

More from Helen Skelton

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Question What lesson has mattered most in your life? Time & hindsight

That you get out of life what you put in. When you grow up on a farm you literally reap what you sow.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

Question When did you last change your mind about something important? Change of mind

There’s a house near me that I adore and it came up for sale, and I got to the point of nearly buying it and then pulled out because I’m trying to be sensible.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

Question Which book do you still mean to read, and why has it stayed on your list? Taste & recommendation

My new year resolution is actually to read all the classics and I’m ashamed that I haven’t read everything by the Brontë sisters.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

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

To Gorka Márquez, who was my Strictly partner, for not winning the glitterball in 2022.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Jealousy. It’s the thief of joy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

As someone who made you think that anything’s possible. I did three marathons in a day once but walking the high-wire at Battersea Park station was the challenge I loved most because I had to master a skill.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 January 2026 source ↗

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Chris Bonington, Indira Varma, Rosalind Eleazar, Tony Judt, Jack Davenport, Clare Bailey Mosley

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