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 Róisín Murphy said elsewhere, not written here
I recently had a dramatic fall on stage in Hungary. It was a massive stage – I was miles away from the audience – and I didn’t expect there to be two monitors in the middle of it. I went completely arse over tit and landed on my chin. First, I felt shock, pain, embarrassment, and then I felt lucky that I didn’t break any teeth or bite through my tongue. I asked for an ice pack for my chin, got up and finished the set.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 September 2023 source ↗

Others on this question

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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 ↗
I was doing The Seagull with Carey Mulligan and Kristin Scott Thomas on Broadway. I walked out on stage and looked at Carey and said: “I’ve no idea what to say.” It was pretty deep into the run and it took me by surprise.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 February 2024 source ↗
It was a small gig and I was doing Three Minute Hero, which has a long, held note at the end, and I fell off the stage.
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 12 April 2025 source ↗
Paapa Essiedu British actor
In order to raise money to pay for myself to go to the National Youth Theatre, I performed a medley of my drama school speeches and some songs for my entire school. Considering I can’t sing, this was terrible. I did U Remind Me by Usher and Hey There Delilah by the Plain White T’s. They paid £2 each – basically, to laugh at me.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 November 2023 source ↗

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