BT
One horrible afternoon in Chicago when I forgot my words in The Marriage of Figaro, in a role I’d sung hundreds of times.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 November 2024 source ↗
The question
When were you most embarrassed?Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
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Others on this question
View all 122 →Forgetting the words to my own songs on stage. I’m a very good mumbler of my own songs. You’d be surprised how few people notice – if you smile and do it confidently, they’re none the wiser.
I was 17 and about to go on a first date with my first boyfriend. I was so desperate for my mum not to meet him that I was trying to get to the door before she did. I ran down the stairs as she opened it, and slid down the last five steps on my arse.
Jack Whitehall
English comedian, actor, presenter and writer
I was bumped as a guest on The Justin Lee Collins show for Bianca from EastEnders.
Having somebody pull my judo trousers down at a competition when I was seven. And finding I wasn’t wearing any pants.
More from Bryn Terfel
View profile →That moment in Bilbao in 2020, when I tried to cross the street and did a pirouette and suffered a dreadful break in my right leg, which means now I have 10 screws and a band in it.
“You’re a wonderful musician but a terrible friend.” It was Daniel Barenboim, the famous conductor, because I didn’t have time in the calendar to work with him.
I loved my 1 minute 40 seconds singing at the coronation of King Charles. I was the most nervous I’ve been.
Unfriendliness.
I cleaned the toilets at the local pub every Saturday morning.
Absolutely nothing.
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