Roland Mouret
French fashion designer
When I am doing things that I feel I am not obliged to do.
When were you happiest?
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Question
How close have you come to death?
Death & what remains
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Identity & self
Question
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
Asked in 52 of the 131 consecutive instalments of The Guardian's The Q&A harvested on 2026-08-29.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Last Sunday when all the family came round to celebrate my 88th birthday. (Or was it Saturday. Or the week before, perhaps?)
The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
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Mary Portas
English retail consultant
Now. Without a doubt
Oti Mabuse
South African dancer
When I realised that I was meant to be a dancer, aged 19.
I’m always happiest when I’m with my family.
More from Roger McGough
View profile →That it will go on quite happily without me.
I’m irritated by critics and academics who dismiss poetry that is popular, comprehensible or humorous.
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.
Unimpeachable, nonpareil, self‑effacing.
I’m embarrassed when I get people’s names wrong.
I had dreams of becoming the first scouse pope. Unfortunately, the girls got to me first.
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