Bear Grylls: If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?

The question

If you could revise one chapter of your past, what would you change?

Originally asked

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

Repeated verbatim in The Guardian's long-running Saturday Q&A; two publisher-hosted examples establish recurrence.

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

Bear Grylls

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

My failures have taught me more than the successes, so not much.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 October 2015 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 203 →

Tuppence Middleton

I’d swap out a few boyfriends.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 9 May 2026 source ↗

Jo Brand English entertainer

I’d have told a racist cabbie to go fuck himself, but I was scared about being chucked out on the street at 2am.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 September 2015 source ↗

Paapa Essiedu British actor

I would really love to know my parents as an adult. I lost my dad when I was 14 and my mum when I was 20.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 November 2023 source ↗

Mike Skinner English rapper

I'd have not sung along with Yellow Submarine in that infant school hall.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2009 source ↗

More from Bear Grylls

View profile →

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

A soldier and adventure guy.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

Question What would you most want to leave your children? Death & what remains

Resilience, courage and kindness, as compassionate points to follow.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

Question What accomplishment matters most to you? Craft & work

Becoming a father.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 October 2015 source ↗

Question What song would you want played at your funeral? Death & what remains

The Bare Necessities.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 October 2015 source ↗

Question When were you most embarrassed? Failure & regret

Holding the hand of some random lady at an airport who I mistook for my wife, Shara.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

Question Which trait in yourself do you like least? Identity & self

Too controlling about silly things like timings or not having toxic cleaning products in the house.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2026 source ↗

Also answered this

Gareth Bale, Judy Murray, Jeremy Vine, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Carol Vorderman, Shaun Ryder

Search the directory for somebody in particular.

Explore further

All failure & regret questions
The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject

Report this answer

Others on this question

More from Bear Grylls

More on failure & regret

Also answered this

Explore further