Letter To My Younger Self
Lesley Manville: 'A working-class upbringing is political in itself, isn't it?'
![Lesley Manville](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1532-YS_GettyImages-946218868.jpg?w=768)
Lesley Manville: 'A working-class upbringing is political in itself, isn't it?'
Motsi Mabuse: 'I don't like dance competitions. I have a real anxiety about them now'
![Motsi Mabuse](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1531_YS_Motsi-257.jpg?w=768)
Motsi Mabuse: 'I don't like dance competitions. I have a real anxiety about them now'
Paul O'Grady: 'I could milk a cow by the time I was seven'
![Paul O'Grady spoke to The Big Issue about his love of dogs and mixed feelings on Lily Savage Photo: Kirsty Mattsson](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1530-YS_Paul-OGrady-Author-Photo_c-Kirsty-Mattsson.jpg?w=768)
Paul O'Grady: 'I could milk a cow by the time I was seven'
Tony Blackburn: 'The world we’re living in at the moment is the saddest time I’ve ever known'
![Tony Blackburn](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/1529_YS_1.jpg?w=768)
Tony Blackburn: 'The world we’re living in at the moment is the saddest time I’ve ever known'
Sharon Horgan: 'Divorce can be a really helpful, handy thing'
![Sharon Horgan](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1528_YS_3.jpg?w=768)
Sharon Horgan: 'Divorce can be a really helpful, handy thing'
Colin Murray: 'I never, ever wanted to be on the radio'
![Colin Murray](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1526_YS_3.jpg?w=768)
Colin Murray: 'I never, ever wanted to be on the radio'
From the archives: Salman Rushdie's letter to his younger self
![](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/salman-rushdie_hero.jpg?w=768)
From the archives: Salman Rushdie's letter to his younger self
P.P. Arnold: 'I was in a relationship with a white boy that just happened to be Mick Jagger'
![](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/1525_YS_1.jpg?w=768)
P.P. Arnold: 'I was in a relationship with a white boy that just happened to be Mick Jagger'
Gary Numan: 'Fame is like jumping onto a speeding train. At some point you lose your grip'
![Gary Numan](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/1524_YS_FL-GaryNumanResurrection.jpg?w=768)
Gary Numan: 'Fame is like jumping onto a speeding train. At some point you lose your grip'
Anita Rani: 'Asian women aren’t allowed to fail. We have to excel at everything'
![](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/1523_YS_Anita-author-photo-©-Jay-Brooks.jpg?w=768)
Anita Rani: 'Asian women aren’t allowed to fail. We have to excel at everything'
Simon Pegg: 'Sometimes I catch myself, oh my god, I’m on the bridge of the Enterprise. How did I get here?'
![Simon Pegg](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/1522_YS_2.jpg?w=768)
Simon Pegg: 'Sometimes I catch myself, oh my god, I’m on the bridge of the Enterprise. How did I get here?'
Denise Mina: 'Writing is a compulsion. It’s not really something you choose to do'
![](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/1521_YS_1.jpg?w=768)
Denise Mina: 'Writing is a compulsion. It’s not really something you choose to do'
Glenda Jackson: 'What made me give up acting and go into politics was Margaret Thatcher'
![Glenda Jackson](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/1519_YS_2.jpg?w=768)
Glenda Jackson: 'What made me give up acting and go into politics was Margaret Thatcher'
Dame Margaret Beckett: 'I hope I've helped the women who have come after me'
![](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/1518_YS_1.jpg?w=768)
Dame Margaret Beckett: 'I hope I've helped the women who have come after me'
Steve Lamacq: 'I'm still doing what I was doing when I was 16'
![steve lamacq](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/1517_YS_1.jpg?w=768)
Steve Lamacq: 'I'm still doing what I was doing when I was 16'
Alison Hammond: 'I knew very little about my own Black history in Britain'
![](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1516_YS_2.jpg?w=768)
Alison Hammond: 'I knew very little about my own Black history in Britain'
Bruce Hornsby: 'Having a laugh or 20 is an enjoyable and healthy way to live'
![Bruce Hornsby](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1515_YS_1.jpg?w=768)
Bruce Hornsby: 'Having a laugh or 20 is an enjoyable and healthy way to live'
Joe Wicks: 'My own childhood made me think about the kind of parent I wanted to be'
![Joe Wicks](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1514_JoeWicks.jpg?w=768)
Joe Wicks: 'My own childhood made me think about the kind of parent I wanted to be'
'Mistakes are not a failure, they are part of the gig,' says TV presenter Angela Scanlon
![angela scanlon](https://www.bigissue.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/1513_YS_2.jpg?w=768)