Roger McGough: What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? — FLAPSS

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.

RM

Roger McGough

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

A lady came up to me in Tesco last year and said, “Excuse me, but didn’t you used to be Roger McGough?”

The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Jason Manford English comedian and singer

Someone once said online that they hated me so much they wanted to stab me with a spoon. A knife’s easy, but a spoon – that takes real hatred.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 July 2023 source ↗

Adam Kay British comedy writer, author, youtuber, comedian and former physician

A reviewer once called me “artistically bankrupt”, and it doesn’t feel like reviews can get much worse than that.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 June 2023 source ↗

Ed Harris American actor and director

'You're not free.'

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2007 source ↗

“Didn’t you used to be Graydon Carter?”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 June 2025 source ↗

More from Roger McGough

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

I’m irritated by critics and academics who dismiss poetry that is popular, comprehensible or humorous.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

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

That it will go on quite happily without me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

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

A picnic on the beach at Seaforth during the war. Somehow I managed to wriggle through a barbed-wire fence and run across a minefield. My teenage aunt Kat bravely followed suit and rescued me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

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

Last Sunday when all the family came round to celebrate my 88th birthday. (Or was it Saturday. Or the week before, perhaps?)

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

I’m embarrassed when I get people’s names wrong.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

Question As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself? Identity & self

I had dreams of becoming the first scouse pope. Unfortunately, the girls got to me first.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

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