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.
Dancing on stage with an open fly.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 April 2025 source ↗
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.
One time I got so drunk in the Soho theatre in London that I fell asleep in the disabled toilet for two hours. People still call the toilet Rosie’s Bedroom.
I did a corporate gig early in my career, and they opened the buffet in the middle of my set and everybody left.
Helen Mirren was in the elevator with me at the National Theatre. She pressed the button but it didn’t move. I said, “Fancy seeing you here and being stuck in an elevator.” And she said, “Was that meant to be funny?” I apologised, and she laughed. Even talking about it now, it feels so awkward and embarrassing.
“You’re selfish.” It was a friend.
The Covid years. My life is diminished since then. I lost my brother. My children lost some social expression, and we are still recovering from that.
Immunity to cruelty.
Telling a story to my son about my brother.
Because it’s in one of my songs, War and Peace.
Barack Obama, for his humility and grace in the face of enormous difficulty.
Meghan Trainor, Erin O'Connor, Nick Frost, Shobna Gulati, Daryl McCormack, Imogen Poots
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