Hollywood star Hugh Jackman has shared a candid story about an embarrassing moment on stage during a performance of “Beauty and the Beast,” when he lost control of his bladder.

The actor, who plays Gaston in the production, revealed the incident during an appearance on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show this week. Jackman explained that he had been struggling with persistent headaches at the time and had consulted a naturopath for advice.

The mishap

The actor recounted the unusual advice he received: "He said, you're dehydrated. You gotta drink a lot, you gotta drink a lot of water, drink it before five o'clock, like two litres of water. So that first day I drank two gallons because I'm like - and you're nuts. You can see what's happening."

However, the heavy water intake led to unexpected consequences during his performance. Jackman described the incident: "The first song I sing, 'You've been dreaming just one dream', is very, it was so hard to get through. I had to pick her up, I had to drag her around, I had to sing. As I picked Belle up, a little bit of … came out and I'm wearing red tights. And then I thought, uh oh."

The actress playing Belle immediately noticed something was amiss. "Belle's over my shoulder going, 'What's going on?' She's like, 'What's going on?' because I'd stopped singing, I was just marching around."

As the song reached its climax, Jackman faced a challenging decision: "At the end of the song, I had a choice. You sing that F sharp and I either sing it, p*** my pants, or I don't sing it and humiliate myself. So I sang it and it was just going, it was just going the whole way. And I immediately, instead of taking my bow, I turned upstage. I just jumped around and I looked down and there was nothing."

He added humour to the story, joking that his costume had helped conceal the mishap: "I'm like laughing to myself thinking my boot is filled with p**s, both boots filled with p**s."

Personal life 

The interview comes amid ongoing public interest in Jackman’s personal life following his split from Deborra-Lee Furness in 2023 after nearly three decades of marriage. Earlier this year, the actor confirmed a new relationship with Broadway star Sutton Foster. The pair have been spotted holding hands in Santa Monica, with Jackman recently attending one of her theatre performances in Los Angeles. Fans have been divided in their reactions to the couple’s new romance.