Roger McGough: 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 Roger McGough said elsewhere, not written here

I had dreams of becoming the first scouse pope. Unfortunately, the girls got to me first.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 January 2026 source ↗

Others on this question

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Madhur Jaffrey Actress, cook, and TV host

A doctor, a painter, an actress.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 February 2021 source ↗

Armistead Maupin American writer

Not a lawyer, which was what I told everyone, because my father wanted me to be one.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 August 2019 source ↗

Eleanor Tomlinson English actress

I wanted to be a vet, and then realised it’s only really dogs that I adore, and if someone had a poorly mouse, I would be the one needing medical assistance.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 May 2024 source ↗

Adwoa Aboah British fashion model

I wanted to be a cooker. Not a cook: I wanted to actually be the stove.

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