In the orange blossom-filled streets of Seville, snogging on a park bench.
When were you happiest?
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
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.
On holiday in Orlando with my wife, Kate, and kids just before lockdown. I wasn’t drinking or gambling. I was so happy, so at peace with myself – I’d been searching for that for many a year.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 January 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 577 →
Charles Dance
British actor
Realising what I wanted to do as a career – aged about 22.
Zoë Wanamaker
American-born British actress
Getting married at Islington register office in 1994.
Cynthia Nixon
American actress and politician
Now. I feel wiser and calmer than I’ve ever been.
More from Paul Merson
View profile →When you jump out of addiction and look back, things like drink-driving and sitting in crack houses are not good.
Going back to addiction.
Walsall fans. I wanted to be a good manager but I was really bad with drink and gambling at the time. I should have done better.
For me, love is working through things when it’s not going well.
That materialistic things will not make you happy.
Nothing, because it’s up to me how I feel. I’ve been a millionaire three times and I still wanted to kill myself.
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- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 22 answers
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