Hugh Jackman Peed All Over Himself On-Stage, Tells Rachael Ray

Would you rather pee all over yourself on stage in front of hundreds or thousands of theatergoers or have to listen to Rachael Ray for any particular amount of time?

Poor Hugh Jackman had to go through both. Jackman- who is known for his work on stage as well as in films- experienced a flub-up no actor would want to suffer as he performed as Gaston in the play Beauty and the Beast. Gaston, as you know, is the arrogant and scheming romantic rival of the cursed beast, hopelessly in love with his own reflection first and heroine Belle second.

Jackman wowed as Gaston on stage, and it wasn’t just his well-appreciated pipes. The actor also recounts the embarrassing tale of how and why he came to urinate all over himself while in the midst of a performance of Beauty and the Beast in Melbourne, Australia. Jackman tells Rachael Ray:

“The first show I ever did, singing and dancing, was Beauty and the Beast. I was playing Gaston… Gaston has red tights, knee high boots, and it’s very physical. I had headaches everyday for two months. I went to an astropath [psychic] and he said ‘Well, you’re dehydrated.’ So of course [following his advice] I had four liters of water…”

The X-Men actor continues:

“I go down to the stage, getting ready for my first number… and I’m like I really need to go again. [The routine is] the most cardiovascular song I’ve ever done: literally I’m picking up Belle and as I pick her up, I stopped singing and right in that moment I realized the muscles you need to release in order to sing are the ones you do not want to release if you need to go… I’m carrying her [over one shoulder] not singing, and she’s going ‘What’s going on? What’s going on?’ So finally, it’s embarrassing at this point. I’ve not sung an entire verse.”

Thankfully for Jackman, the actor went on to stardom in the aforementioned X-Men saga as well as winning Tony Awards for Broadway performances. The interview on the Rachael Ray show airs Friday.