JW
When I was in my 30s and taped myself singing. I always thought I had quite a sweet voice – my voice is terrible, I can’t hold a note.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 May 2022 source ↗
The question
What disappointment has stayed with you longest?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.
Others on this question
View all 367 →
Susan Calman
Scottish comedian
That I’m still having the same discussions about women in comedy as I was having 12 years ago. Are we funny? Will anyone watch us? Can I have my own sitcom?
Candi Staton
American singer–songwriter
Choosing the wrong mate.
Joshua Ferris
American author
My failure to come to grips with all these disappointments.
Abigail Breslin
American actress
When I haven't given my all, like when I'm working and I feel I could have done better.
More from Jacqueline Wilson
View profile →A little girl called Pat. We were nine-year-olds together and all the class made her life a misery. I knew she wanted to be my friend and I would only be friends with her if nobody else was around. I feel dreadful about that.
Realising that if they were drowning, you’d try to save them.
Catastrophising.
A few years ago in Vermont, when I eloped with Trish to have a civil partnership ceremony.
More on failure & regret
- Who deserves an apology from you, and for what? 209 answers
- If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change? 203 answers
- What is the harshest thing anyone has said to you? 122 answers
- When were you most embarrassed? 122 answers
- How has a setback or failure set you up for later success? 69 answers
- What is the hardest thing that has happened to you, and what did you carry out of it? 35 answers
Also answered this
Shirley MacLaine, Sue Townsend, Mary Berry, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Adrian Edmondson, Simon Mayo
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All failure & regret questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject