Failure & regret

Which moment embarrassed you most?

124 answers answered between 2007 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

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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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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Ed Harris American actor and director
Modelling tuxedos at the Oklahoma State Fair in 1971.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 August 2007 source ↗
Alison Steadman British actress
Playing a pregnant woman, and not being able to find the padding - I shoved a cardie under my dress, and spent the whole play walking around with a sleeve dragging along the floor.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2009 source ↗
Mike Skinner English rapper
My brother was singing Yellow Submarine on stage with his class. I was singing along with them, showing off cos I knew all the words. The song ended suddenly and I was the only one in the whole hall who sang, 'We ...'
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 January 2009 source ↗
Omid Djalili British stand-up comedian and actor
Sending a text meant for my wife to Dara O'Briain by mistake, revealing myself to be a control freak.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 August 2010 source ↗
Andy Serkis English actor
There have been frequent occasions when I have woken up on the tube to find people taking pictures of me.
Recorded Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 1 July 2017 source ↗
Niamh Cusack Irish actress
Being caught having an emergency pee in the Cotswolds by two unsuspecting walkers.
Recorded Rosanna Greenstreet, The Q&A, The Guardian, 2 October 2021 source ↗
Fay Ripley English actress, television presenter, cookbook author
See my greatest fear!
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 November 2022 source ↗
Bryan Adams Canadian singer-songwriter and musician
Walking with Eric Clapton’s tour manager Mick to meet Eric backstage, and when I met Eric I said, “Hi Mick.” I wanted to die.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 10 December 2022 source ↗
Edward Enninful Ghanaian-born English editor and stylist
When my trousers nearly fell down at Buckingham Palace. I was there to collect my OBE, and the suspenders for the beautiful Alexander McQueen suit I’d had made for the occasion went missing. Naomi Campbell was with me and we had a good laugh about it.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 24 December 2022 source ↗
Rosie Jones British comedian and actress
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.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 December 2022 source ↗
Paul McKenna British hypnotist and TV personality
I was in Kensington Gardens and this couple stopped me and said: “Hey, could we get a picture? I said: “Sure.” I put my arms around their shoulders, and they looked at me and said: “No, can you take a picture of us?”
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 January 2023 source ↗
Paul Merson English footballer and pundit
When you jump out of addiction and look back, things like drink-driving and sitting in crack houses are not good.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 January 2023 source ↗
Minnie Driver British and American actress
When I was starting out, in the early 90s, I had to fake an orgasm in a room full of male ad execs at an audition for a chocolate bar ad. It was grim.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 February 2023 source ↗
Daryl McCormack Irish actor
Missing a cue on stage. I had to come on and move a piece of furniture with another actor and I completely forgot. I looked at the monitor and said, “Why is he standing on his own?” And somebody said, “Aren’t you meant to help him?”
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 February 2023 source ↗
Shakin' Stevens Welsh rock and roll singer and songwriter
I was in the musical Elvis, and after a costume change I went below stage to be raised up on a platform. As I was raised up, I blanked and couldn’t remember the first line of the song King Creole. I mumbled the first few lines and hoped nobody would notice.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 February 2023 source ↗
Belinda Carlisle American singer
On stage in Tasmania, I tripped over a floor monitor and landed on my back like a turtle, kicking my legs in the air trying to get back on my feet in front of about 5,000 people. But when I got on my feet, the whole crowd roared in triumph.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 4 March 2023 source ↗
John Simm English musician and actor
Going to pieces while meeting John Squire, the lead guitarist of the Stone Roses, backstage after a gig. I completely lost the ability to speak. I told him I had the same guitars as he’d just used on stage, and when he asked me which ones, the words completely went out of my head and there was a huge pause, and then his wife tapped his shoulder and he wandered off.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 March 2023 source ↗
Sofia Coppola American filmmaker and actress
Being on the cover of a magazine at 18 with the slogan: “Did she ruin The Godfather?”
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 March 2023 source ↗

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