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The question

When were you most embarrassed?

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The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A verbatim recurring question in The Guardian's Q&A series.

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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.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 July 2026 source ↗
When I was doing a masterclass at a theatre and I had to leave the stage because I was about to shit my pants.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 February 2026 source ↗
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?”
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 December 2023 source ↗
In my 20s I was in a show called The Unauthorised Autobiography of Samantha Brown. The actor who played my dad messed up his lines and it made me laugh so hard that I ended up peeing my pants.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 25 April 2026 source ↗

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