Kelly Hoppen: 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

Years ago in a safari park in South Africa, and getting all dressed up for dinner. Walking across the lawn, I didn’t realise there was a swimming pool that hadn’t been lit and walked straight into the shallow end fully clothed. It still haunts me. I remember trying to get out as if no one would notice.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 September 2024 source ↗

Others on this question

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Shobna Gulati

If you’re a mother, you are embarrassing. Is that not just the way?

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 October 2025 source ↗

Mark Bonnar

I did an interview years ago and, after it finished, I made some passing comment about sex getting better as you get older – and they used that as the headline. The day the paper came out, I was in a restaurant with the family when a woman on the table next to me leaned over and said, in a sultry voice, “I read your article this morning.”

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 April 2025 source ↗

Chiwetel Ejiofor English actor

Being torn to shreds by a very elderly woman for driving badly on the Isle of Man, maybe 15 years ago. She stopped in the middle of the road and really let me have it.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2024 source ↗

Monica Dolan

I once walked up to Harriet Walter while she was having lunch on her own because I thought I knew her, and then when I got up to the table I realised I didn’t know her, I just recognised her because she was Harriet Walter.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 6 January 2024 source ↗