Tom Allen
British comedian
Never save anything for best.
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Question
When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
Change of mind
Question
What is the worst thing anyone has said to you?
Failure & regret
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
Question
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Values & belief
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
Verbatim recurring item in The Guardian Q&A; two fully readable publisher-hosted respondent pages establish institutional recurrence.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
That I am not wise.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 137 →Redemption. People can be redeemed, goals can be redeemed.
It’s all a gift. So be grateful for every day.
Keep working, improving your step.
More from Rory Stewart
View profile →The US election showed me that I had trapped myself in wishful thinking.
On X, I am regularly called a traitor, a fraud, a grifter, a weakling, a narcissist, a coward and a child molester.
Moments of vanity, carelessness and unkindness.
Having somebody pull my judo trousers down at a competition when I was seven. And finding I wasn’t wearing any pants.
I become very anxious if I think I’ve hurt someone.
Carelessness of truth and others.
More on time & hindsight
- When were you happiest? 577 answers
- What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore? 77 answers
- What scares you about getting older? 61 answers
- What is the best advice you have ever received? 28 answers
- If you could have a gigantic billboard anywhere, what would it say and why? 23 answers
- What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself? 22 answers
Also answered this
George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Caroline Lucas, Desmond Tutu, Barack Obama, Clive Myrie
Search the directory for somebody in particular.
Explore further
- All time & hindsight questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject