Donny Osmond: What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

The question

What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy?

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.

Donny Osmond

American singer, dancer, actor, television host

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

In 1971, I was sitting in a hotel room in London and there was a television chat show going on, debating whether Donny Osmond should be deported because of the chaos he was wreaking. And while I was watching this, there were fans on the street below, chanting my name. I was 13 and thought, “Does it get any better than this?”

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 July 2016 source ↗

Others on this question

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Yoko Ono Japanese artist and activist

When the war was over—whichever war that was.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, December 1995 source ↗

Sue Townsend English writer and humorist

Flying over the Australian outback in a jet, looking down at the incredible orange scenery, the uninhabited hills and gullies, listening to Tchaikovsky on my headphones and drinking champagne with a cigarette in my hand. It was 1984, I'd been to the Adelaide Book Festival and was going back to my husband and my children.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 January 2007 source ↗

Ian Wright English footballer and pundit

1990 FA Cup final, playing for Crystal Palace.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 July 2019 source ↗

Philippa Dunne

Any time I’m in rehearsals.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 June 2026 source ↗

More from Donny Osmond

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Question What most recently moved you to tears? Identity & self

Last Monday was a really emotional day for me: my last son graduated from high school and he’s going on a mission for the Mormon Church soon. I’ve already experienced it four times with my other sons: my oldest went to London, my second son to Italy, my third to Scotland and my fourth the Netherlands. They come back, but the little boy stays out there. He never comes back.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 July 2016 source ↗