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.

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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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My brother Joe, he’s nine years older than me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 May 2026 source ↗

Before I knew what being an actor was, I wanted to be one.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 November 2018 source ↗

Rosalind Eleazar

An air traffic controller.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 22 February 2025 source ↗

Angela Hartnett English chef

Anything and everything. I watched the Olympics and wanted to be an 800m runner. If I watched Inspector Morse, I wanted to be a pathologist.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 13 August 2022 source ↗

More from Paul O'Grady

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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 ↗

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 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 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 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 ↗

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