Ed Balls
British broadcaster and politician
That my competitive pole vault career ended at the age of 15.
What has been your biggest disappointment?
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What does love feel like?
Relationships
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What keeps you awake at night?
Daily life
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If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
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What is the worst job you have done?
Craft & work
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When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
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What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
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.
In my professional life, the musical Chess on Broadway. It was a resounding fiasco and played for two months. The butcher of Broadway, Frank Rich of the New York Times, was probably very pleased: I’ve never seen such a bad review in my life.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 June 2020 source ↗
Others on this question
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Marilyn Manson
American musician
My last three relationships.
The Covid years. My life is diminished since then. I lost my brother. My children lost some social expression, and we are still recovering from that.
David Hasselhoff
American actor, singer, and television personality
That I wasn't Indiana Jones.
More from Björn Ulvaeus
View profile →It’s a calm and secure feeling of deep loyalty.
Nothing, really. But without little sleeping pills, I’d go crazy.
My surname. You have no idea how many versions I’ve read and heard. It was especially irritating during my Abba years. You can imagine someone calling our hotel and saying: “I’d like to speak to one of the guys in Abba.” Who do you think the receptionist called, Andersson or Ulvaeus?
A cabaret act with Agnetha, Frida and Benny. It was in a nightclub in Gothenburg and one night we had seven in the audience. It was before we found out that we were a pop group.
If it wasn’t for coronavirus, it would be right now. All my life I’ve felt a pressure to achieve. It’s gone now, and that gives me a sense of freedom. Whenever I, for short moments, forget about corona and climate change, I’m happy.
Successful like my two uncles, who were paper industry magnates.
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Viv Albertine, Richard Hawley, Dan Aykroyd, Bryan Ferry, Rufus Wainwright, Adam Lambert
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