Carol Vorderman: What did you want to be when you were growing up?

What did you want to be when you were growing up?

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.

Recorded Carol Vorderman said elsewhere, not written here

A fighter pilot.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 March 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Steve Pemberton British actor and comedian

What I am now, but with a better singing voice.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 May 2019 source ↗

Griff Rhys Jones British actor and comedian

An actor. Then I grew out of that and became one by default. Or sort of one: “Not really an actor”, said Michael Billington.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 December 2017 source ↗

David Harewood British actor and presenter

I had no idea. When I was a week away from leaving school, a teacher said, “We’ve been talking in the staffroom and we all think you should be an actor.” I thought, “That’s exactly what I want.” The rest is history.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 November 2019 source ↗

Gareth Bale Welsh footballer

I just wanted to fulfil my potential.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 August 2021 source ↗