Ciarán Hinds: 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 Ciarán Hinds said elsewhere, not written here

Falling off the stage and on to the pianist during the opening number in the Mother Goose pantomime at the Citizens theatre in Glasgow.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 July 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Lucy Beaumont

I worked with Stephen Fry recently and we had a real heart-to-heart. I asked: “What was it like being in prison for being gay?” And thank God someone came in and he didn’t hear me say it. I was mixing him up with when he played Oscar Wilde. I could picture him in his cell.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 26 October 2024 source ↗

Fearne Cotton

On radio, I once said “anal” instead of “angel”.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 7 March 2026 source ↗

Romesh Ranganathan English actor and comedian

I was once walking through Edinburgh with someone in the industry. I was quite drunk and I slowly wet myself.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 31 August 2024 source ↗

Chris McCausland

When I was losing my sight, I couldn’t see where I was going, and I went into an undertaker’s thinking it was a barber’s. I asked the undertaker whether he had many waiting.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 November 2025 source ↗