Dawn O'Porter: What thought won't let you sleep?

The question

What thought won't let you sleep?

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

Dawn O'Porter

British writer, director, and television presenter

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

Perimenopausal anxiety, the terrible feeling of impending doom, something awful happening to my children, writing deadlines. Apart from that, I’m quite chilled.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗

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Frank Bowling

My work. What shape will it take?

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 June 2026 source ↗

Ciarán Hinds

An inability to get myself to bed at a reasonable hour.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2025 source ↗

Cerys Matthews Welsh singer-songwriter

Unfinished songs.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 July 2016 source ↗

Gloria Estefan Cuban-American singer and songwriter

When I feel that I am unprepared. Before a show I always have nightmares that I go out on stage naked.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 June 2019 source ↗

More from Dawn O'Porter

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Question What disappointment has stayed with you longest? Failure & regret

Not winning Celebrity MasterChef. I am still gutted, despite many months of pretending to be fine with it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗

Question As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself? Identity & self

A drunk woman who threw epic dinner parties.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗

Question Who alive today do you admire most, and what draws you to them? Values & belief

My Auntie Jane. She took me in, aged 10, and, after my mother died, healed my broken heart by filling our dining room with food and people. Still cooking at the grand old age of 89. My icon.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 August 2026 source ↗

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