Any time I’m in rehearsals.
When were you happiest?
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
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.
Professionally, it has to be when I got my third star.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 October 2011 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 581 →
Richard Branson
English business magnate
The births of my kids and my wedding spring to mind.
Una Stubbs
British actress, television personality, and dancer
When I am painting.
Joan Jett
American singer, songwriter and guitarist
My teenage years in the Runaways: I was still naive enough to think good things about the world and life and people, and I was having fun playing rock’n’roll around the world, living the dream.
More from Heston Blumenthal
View profile →When we bought the contaminated oysters and I made the decision to close the Fat Duck, not knowing if I would ever open again.
More on time & hindsight
- What is the most important lesson life has taught you? 141 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 82 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 63 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 31 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 24 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 23 answers
Also answered this
Paul Smith, Gino D'Acampo, Martha Stewart, Paul Hollywood, Douglas Stuart, Rick Stein
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject