Skip to content
Failure & regret

What disappointment has stayed with you longest?

367 answers answered between 1995 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

Originally asked

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

This exact question recurs in The Guardian's institutional Q&A pool.

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

Claim your address

On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Read by field Everyone Science and medicine 2 Arts and letters 309 Politics and public life 26 Business and finance 10 Sport 19
Read by age Any age Before thirty 16 In their thirties 58 In their forties 82 In their fifties 81 In their sixties 73 Seventy and beyond 55
Order Earliest first Most recent Surprise me
Heston Blumenthal English chef
When we bought the contaminated oysters and I made the decision to close the Fat Duck, not knowing if I would ever open again.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 October 2011 source ↗
Tommy Hilfiger American fashion designer
My first business, People's Place, went bankrupt in the mid-70s.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 December 2011 source ↗
Prue Leith South African-British chef, broadcaster, and writer
Public catering in the parks, where we lost a tonne of money. Now the public will buy excellent simple, fresh food. All they wanted in the 80s were slimy burgers, Mr Whippy and Coke.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 May 2012 source ↗
Gino D'Acampo Italian-British celebrity chef and media personality
That Italy didn’t qualify for the World Cup this year.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 3 December 2022 source ↗

1 answer from members

Not being able to start my own company

More on failure & regret