Erin O'Connor: Which moment embarrassed you most?

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 Erin O'Connor said elsewhere, not written here

Appearing on a Paris catwalk in a beard.

The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 March 2008 source ↗

Others on this question

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Seann Walsh

At school, I got my head stuck in a balustrade on the stairs at lunchtime. I had pupils laughing at me, parents laughing at me, teachers laughing at me and eventually, at the end of the day, the fire brigade laughing at me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 January 2026 source ↗

Layton Williams

Falling flat on my face in Billy Elliot on Boxing Day when I was 14. I fell smack bang at the end of my number. I was mortified.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 21 December 2024 source ↗

Johannes Radebe

When my trousers split on stage in Burn the Floor in Australia. I had always been warned to wear my flesh underwear and I did not that day.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 28 March 2026 source ↗

Tom Burke

Putting chocolate mousse in my agent’s face. Somebody had done it to me – that thing where they go, “Smell this, it smells funny”, and then they put it in your nose. A year later I was in this French restaurant with a very 1980s-style dessert trolley and, before I knew it, I had a bowl of chocolate mousse in front of me. And my agent went, “What’s that smell?”, and it felt impossible not to … I immediately felt awful and tried to apologise. He, of course, said that he found it funny. But I knew he didn’t.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 23 May 2026 source ↗