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.

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Recorded Tom Burke said elsewhere, not written here
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.

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

Others on this question

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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 ↗
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 ↗
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 ↗
I did an interview years ago and, after it finished, I made some passing comment about sex getting better as you get older – and they used that as the headline. The day the paper came out, I was in a restaurant with the family when a woman on the table next to me leaned over and said, in a sultry voice, “I read your article this morning.”
Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 5 April 2025 source ↗

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