Seann Walsh: 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.

Seann Walsh

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

“What is Seann Walsh and how do we make it die?” It was online, thankfully. It wasn’t in Sainsbury’s.

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

Others on this question

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Cybill Shepherd American actress and former model

A review that said I had the charm of a hamster.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 June 2008 source ↗

Frank Bowling

A fellow artist called me a flaneur!

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 June 2026 source ↗

Robert Carlyle Scottish actor

On Angela's Ashes, Alan Parker said to me, 'You've got the Bafta, just get in the door.' I was walking along the street to go into a shop and he saw me milking it a bit. It was a really good piece of advice.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 February 2008 source ↗

Sharleen Spiteri

Somebody wrote that my voice was more numbing than novocaine.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 May 2024 source ↗