Mark Bonnar: 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

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.”

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

Others on this question

View all 122 →

Ciarán Hinds

Falling off the stage and on to the pianist during the opening number in the Mother Goose pantomime at the Citizens theatre in Glasgow.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 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 ↗

Pauline McLynn Irish character actress and author

Eight or nine years ago, I disgraced myself in the Japanese ambassador’s home in Dublin, at a celebration for my late mother-in-law’s book about living in Japan. Afterwards, when I had to apologise, she told me it was the worst night of her life and, because I was drunk enough not to remember the details, it will never not be the most embarrassing night of my life. People are filling in details even now – “Remember when you fell under the table during the first course?”

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 July 2023 source ↗

Meghan Trainor American singer-songwriter