Charlie Higson: When were you most embarrassed?

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.

Charlie Higson

Recorded said elsewhere, not written here

I’ve shat myself in public three times. It’s never quite as bad as you fear.

The Q&A, The Guardian, 11 October 2025 source ↗

Others on this question

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Richard Eyre

When I was doing a masterclass at a theatre and I had to leave the stage because I was about to shit my pants.

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

Erin O'Connor English model

Appearing on a Paris catwalk in a beard.

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

Sarah Hadland

Years ago, I was trying to get with one of the big agencies and I cobbled together a VHS tape of me in adverts and sobbing in The Bill, and took it United Agents for the attention of Dallas Smith. A week later I went back and said, “Has she looked at the tape?” And they were, like, “Dallas is a he, no he hasn’t and he doesn’t want to,” and handed it back to me.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 December 2025 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 ↗