Giovanna Fletcher: When were you most embarrassed?

The question

Originally asked

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

A verbatim recurring question in The Guardian's Q&A series.

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

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

At the TV Baftas last year I was wearing these heels that had stiff bows on the front. One heel locked into the other bow and I went arse over tit.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 February 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Billy Crudup

Giving a speech in high school at a pep rally that wasn’t going so well and the dean unplugged the mic. Apparently, I was rambling and the spirit of the cafeteria was being weighed down.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 February 2026 source ↗

Bruce Dickinson English heavy metal singer

I once threw up on the shoes of one of my vocal heroes, the Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan. He sent me home in a taxi with a towel.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 July 2024 source ↗

Bryn Terfel Welsh bass-baritone singer

One horrible afternoon in Chicago when I forgot my words in The Marriage of Figaro, in a role I’d sung hundreds of times.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 November 2024 source ↗

Lemn Sissay

Also my most triumphant: 2017 at the Royal Court. Julie Hesmondhalgh reads my psychologist’s report over two hours. Every excruciating intimate word of it. Extreme verbatim theatre. One night only.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 October 2023 source ↗