Paul O'Grady: As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself? — FLAPSS

The question

As a child, what career or life did you imagine for yourself?

Originally asked

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

This is a standing question in The Guardian's decades-long The Q&A and also recurs independently in career and life interviews.

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

PO

Paul O'Grady

British comedian, actor and television presenter

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

To work in a dry cleaner’s.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

Others on this question

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Mariella Frostrup

A foreign correspondent.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 November 2023 source ↗

Isabelle Huppert French actress

I dreamed of being an artistic skater. And a nursery nurse.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 May 2018 source ↗

I wanted to be in the WWF – the wrestling one, not the wildlife one.

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

Felicity Jones British actress

A magazine editor.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 May 2023 source ↗

More from Paul O'Grady

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

I had a midlife crisis and paid 70 grand for a Morgan AeroMax which looked just like Cruella de Vil’s car. I was in a permanent state of terror and soon sold it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

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

When I hit 30 and managed to get a council flat in London. It was in the most terrible state, but it was bliss to have a flat of my own.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

Question What most recently moved you to tears? Identity & self

When I watched a series called Pose. The hospital scenes took me right back to when we were going through the Aids years. It’s the same with It’s a Sin.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

Question How would you want people to remember you? Death & what remains

I don’t care, because I won’t be here.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

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

Too many of my friends, family and peers dying.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 May 2009 source ↗

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

I had a bad heart attack 20 years ago: I think I slid off the mortal coil for about 30 seconds.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 27 November 2021 source ↗

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