Alex Lawther: Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

The question

Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's weekly The Q&A repeatedly uses this standing prompt, with minor contractions and word-order variation.

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

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

My partner was doing a play in Hong Kong last year and I went to visit him, and I bought him a beautiful teacup. But I didn’t look at the price tag before I took it to the till and it was £100, the most expensive teacup imaginable.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 September 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Helen George English actress

A grandfather clock for my partner’s birthday.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 January 2023 source ↗

Esther Rantzen

My hybrid car. Not glamorous, not fast, but indispensable.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 February 2024 source ↗

Scott Mills English radio DJ and television presenter

I splash out on holidays and scented candles – I’ve got one that my fiancee won’t let me light, so it’s just for show.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 October 2022 source ↗

Monty Don English horticulturist, broadcaster, and writer

A tractor, 12 years ago. Bright yellow and still brilliant.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 May 2018 source ↗

More from Alex Lawther

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Question What period or moment in your life brought you the most joy? Time & hindsight

Last year, during four days in January, when I directed Rhoda, my second short film, in a tiny house in Camberwell with Juliet Stevenson and Emma D’Arcy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 September 2025 source ↗