The question
When were you most embarrassed?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.
I’m president of my neighbourhood association. At my first meeting there was a discussion about developments the association should oppose. I said: “Nothing could be as bad as that horrible new house next to the church.” “I designed that,” the chairman replied. I shut up.
The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 July 2023 source ↗
The Radio 1 breakfast show was an embarrassing moment that lasted for nine months.
Having somebody pull my judo trousers down at a competition when I was seven. And finding I wasn’t wearing any pants.
When I was a teenager, I laughed at a joke I didn’t understand. Whoever told the joke turned to me and said, “What are you laughing at?” Of course I didn’t know and he obviously knew I didn’t know. It was excruciating.
On radio, I once said “anal” instead of “angel”.
Frightening, exhilarating and all-consuming.
Our beautiful cat was so ill that we were hours away from having her put down. Somehow, we’ve managed to nurse her back to full health again.
A detective, a train driver on the underground and Leyton Orient’s centre forward.
Seeing Leyton Orient in the premiership.
When the surgeon told me I wouldn’t be able to play the cello again, in 2013. I have a herniated disc and it’s pressing on a nerve in my neck. I announced I was stopping playing in 2014. I absolutely did not want to stop.
When I was 16, I’d just won full scholarships to both the Royal Academy and the Royal College of Music, and felt like the world was my oyster.
Adele Parks, Billy Crudup, Natalie Imbruglia, Sally Lindsay, Pauline Black, Hugh Skinner
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