Louis Walsh: As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself? — FLAPSS

The question

As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

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Louis Walsh

Irish music manager and television personality

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I just wanted to work in music. I didn’t want a real job.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 197 →

Jack Whitehall English comedian, actor, presenter and writer

I was hellbent on being a Thunderbird. I was devastated when my parents finally told me it was a fictional organisation. Ruined my 18th.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 April 2023 source ↗

Clive Myrie British journalist, newsreader, and presenter

A tennis player.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 June 2024 source ↗

Rosalind Eleazar

An air traffic controller.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 February 2025 source ↗

Vick Hope British television and radio presenter

J-Lo, a foreign correspondent and, at uni, I assumed that someone would tap me on the shoulder and ask me to be in MI6, but it never happened.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 August 2022 source ↗

More from Louis Walsh

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Question What disappointment has stayed with you longest? Failure & regret

America – there are too many Americans.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

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

I’m always happy. Ask Simon Cowell: he says if I had a tail, I’d wag it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought? Money & investment

I have a Maserati. I love pop art and I collect Warhol, Hirst and Hockney.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question What one change would most improve the quality of your daily life? Daily life

More exercise. Maybe I should join a gym, but I’ve never been to one.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question What thought won't let you sleep? Daily life

The X Factor (wondering about song choices) and watching TV. I’m a night person, and don’t go to sleep until 3am or 4am.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

I’d like people to say, “Well, he was a bit odd, he was a bit funny.”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 September 2017 source ↗

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