Seann Walsh: When were you most embarrassed?

The question

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 said elsewhere, not written here

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.

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

Others on this question

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Gregory Porter

Dancing on stage with an open fly.

Recorded The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 April 2025 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 ↗

Michael Ball English singer, presenter and actor

During the technical rehearsal of Aspects of Love in 1989. They told me it would be discreetly lit because I was paranoid about being in just my pants. I walked on and every spotlight in the building followed me round the stage.

Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 20 May 2023 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 ↗