Denise Welch: Which moment embarrassed you most?

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 Denise Welch said elsewhere, not written here

Shitting myself in New York last November. I was wearing cream trousers. We were going to see my son Matty and his band, the 1975, at Madison Square Garden, and I was walking through the streets, enjoying the sunshine, pretending I was in some kind of video – throwing my hat into the New York sky like Mary Tyler Moore. I saw a couple of people turn and look at me. Now, although I’m not famous in New York, whenever Matty’s there I do get recognised as his mum, so I’m smiling and waving at them. I went back to the hotel room and bent over to get something out of the suitcase, and my husband said: “Do you realise you’ve shat yourself?”

The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 December 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

View all 123 →

Hugh Skinner

Accidentally walking on to set naked for a scene where I wasn’t actually supposed to be naked.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 30 May 2026 source ↗

Olly Alexander English singer and actor

At the Mighty Hoopla festival, Kimberley and Nicola from Girls Aloud joined me on stage for a Girls Aloud song. I completely forgot the words.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 March 2025 source ↗

Graham Norton

I called Elizabeth McGovern Elizabeth Montgomery throughout a show. But, bless her, she didn’t say anything.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 April 2026 source ↗

Corinne Bailey Rae

I remember being a teenager and writing this romantic short story in the style of the Brontës on a computer and I didn’t realise that the person whose computer it was could just print it out. A group of boys had a couple of pages and they were all reading it.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 September 2023 source ↗