Mortifying moments

Five incidents the famous might prefer us to forgetGareth Gates Being caught sleeping with Jordan, the glamour model who has since focused her affections on Peter Andre, was a public-relations disaster for the squeaky-clean pop star Gareth Gates.

The Pop Idol runner-up initially denied the affair, but by the time Jordan published her autobiography he had admitted to sleeping with the then six-months-pregnant blonde. After Jordan, a.k.a. Katie Price, gave birth to her son, Harvey, she was asked about the affair again by a reporter. "Yeah," she said, smiling lovingly at her baby. "He tickled your head, didn't he?"

Judy Finnigan

When Judy Finnigan's black velvet dress slipped at the 2000 National Television Awards, in Britain, 12 million viewers were faced with the sight of Finnigan's strapless-bra-clad breasts. Finnigan, who was presenting an award with her husband, Richard Madeley, didn't realise what had happened until her friend John Leslie leapt on to the stage in an attempt to preserve her modesty. Four years on the television presenter still looks mortified whenever the incident is mentioned.

Bertie Ahern

The Taoiseach may have felt the yellow trousers he sported at the G8 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, this month were just darling, but commentators were quick to assure him otherwise. "The Taoiseach's sartorial choice generated more publicity than the economic proposals made at the meeting," said Enda Kenny, the leader of Fine Gael. Ahern attempted to make, um, light of the situation. "I had to put a bit of colour in to the place," he said. But whether he was referring to the hue of his cheeks or his trousers was left unclear.

Janet Jackson

When Justin Timberlake tugged at Janet Jackson's outfit during the Super Bowl half-time show this year he unleashed both a bare breast and a can of worms. Jackson, Timberlake, CBS and Viacom were named in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a Tennessee woman who claimed "serious injury" on behalf of

100 million viewers. Censorship on television stations in the US was increased in the wake of the incident, and the Grammys were broadcast with a five-minute delay. This was much to the disappointment of some - the purported "wardrobe malfunction" has become the most searched-for item in Internet history.

Britney Spears

Not even Britney Spears's record company could explain the chain of events that led to the US superstar getting married one day and annulled the next. Spears and her childhood friend Jason Alexander "took a joke too far by getting married", Jive Records said in a statement. "I don't know what's going through her mind," another source close to the singer was quoted by People magazine as saying. Spears wore jeans and a baseball cap to the Las Vegas ceremony and was walked down the aisle by a bellboy.