Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen: Which trait in yourself do you like least? — FLAPSS

The question

Which trait in yourself do you like least?

Originally asked

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

The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.

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

LL

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

English interior designer and television personality

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I am crucified by my modesty: it’s terrible.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗

Others on this question

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I can’t deal with any level of stress.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 September 2024 source ↗

Being judgmental.

Recorded Vanity Fair, The Proust Questionnaire, Vanity Fair, September 2025 source ↗

Olly Alexander English singer and actor

I can be an overthinker and a vicious self-critic.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 March 2025 source ↗

Omid Djalili British stand-up comedian and actor

Overeating when stressed.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 August 2010 source ↗

More from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen

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

The missus. She is the glamour mamma mia at the top of our feudal pyramid. We all live together, so she’s a full-time grandmother and rules the roost. How she steered us through lockdown was extraordinary.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗

Question How close have you come to dying? Death & what remains

I was nearly hit by an enormous gold-fibreglass cherub in a shopping centre. It fell five storeys and smashed into a thousand pieces about 4ft away from me.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗

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

This is going to horribly upset my wife, my children and my grandchildren, but it was when I did The Greatest Snowman last year for Channel 4. Being let loose on an Austrian mountainside to build snow sculptures was my happy point, and who knew I’d find an icy G-spot at nearly 58.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗

Question What trait do you most dislike in other people? Values & belief

Other people’s decorating, if I feel they’ve missed an opportunity and just decorated in that wet-cardboard, modern-grey thing. That’s a life not properly lived.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗

Question Excluding property, what is the most expensive thing you have ever bought? Money & investment

My wife. I am a lavish present-giver. I love worshipping my wife with beautiful bits and pieces – it is one of my greatest pleasures.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 October 2022 source ↗

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