Wardrobe Malfunctions That Ended Up In The TV Show

A TV show (or televised event) is a huge, costly endeavor with many moving parts. There are props, sets, lighting cues, sound effects, make-up, costumes, and, of course, lots and lots of people, both behind and in front of the camera. It's the specific combination of costumes and human beings that can sometimes cause a surprising amount of problems for a TV show. When those elements literally move in tandem, things can go very wrong, sometimes resulting in the broadcast of images that the government has made very clear should not be broadcast on free, over-the-air network television. We're talking wardrobe malfunctions here, people. These egregious oopsies may offend the viewing public and embarrass TV performers. And, of course, they're preserved for posterity on the internet.

Here are some times when things got dicey, and some accidental, partial, near, or actual nudity made its way in television shows and televised events.

When musicians perform, they get in "the zone" — they get lost in the moment and focus on the performance. They're not thinking about clothes, because they're not supposed to be thinking about clothes. That mindset generally serves rapper Nicki Minaj very well, but it also made her completely oblivious when she exposed herself while rapping live on TV in August 2011. For an outdoor performance on "Good Morning America," Minaj wore the kind of outfit one expects Minaj to wear: a massive head of blond hair, a shiny pink jacket, a ton of bracelets, and a green sports bra that left little to the imagination. As Minaj performed, what was concealed under that bra became concealed no more.

When she realized what had happened, she put everything back where it was supposed to go. Minaj later apologized on ABC's "Nightline," and also denied that the wardrobe malfunction had been a publicity ploy. "I'm so sorry about that," Minaj said. "People are ridiculous if they think I would use that as a stunt."

The "Fifty Shades of Grey" movies haven't won a lot of awards — critics trashed them — but they were very popular. The first film in particular delivered such a perfect blend of romance and riding crops that star Dakota Johnson won a People's Choice Award in 2016 for Favorite Dramatic Actress, one of the few acting awards voted on by the public at-large. Johnson took the stage at the CBS-televised event, and as she made her way to the microphone to give her acceptance speech, presenter and friend-of-Johnson Leslie Mann gave her a hug ... and in doing so broke the zipper on the back of the halter-type top of Johnson's outfit. Mann and fellow presenter Alison Brie made sure Johnson's garment didn't fall all the way off. The award-winner took it in stride, wryly referring to the movie for which she just won a trophy: "Well, it's not like nobody here hasn't already seen my boobs."

The unique ingredients that make "Dancing with the Stars" so popular are the same unique ingredients that make it surprising there aren't more wardrobe-related mishaps and instances of minor nudity on the long-running ABC competition series. "Dancing with the Stars" features women performing acrobatic and athletic dance moves while wearing very little clothing. It's a recipe for trouble. In 2006, Monique Coleman, best known for "High School Musical," competed on the show. While doing the jive, Coleman jumped into partner Louis Van Amstel's arms, as one does, and the heel on her shoe caught a piece of dangly fringe on her skirt. As Coleman kept on trying to dance, her shoe pulled down the skirt just a little, but enough to expose her rear end to the studio audience and millions watching at home. After the number, host Tom Bergeron quipped to Coleman, "I know that jump scared the 'everything' out of you." Coleman's reply: "It did. It scared my clothes off, apparently."

"The X Factor" was a huge hit in the UK, so Fox broadcast a version stateside. Singers singing shouldn't lead to too many instances of wardrobe malfunctions and/or accidental nudity ... but that doesn't factor in the hosts and their love of revealing garments. Khloe Kardashian, she of the royal family of reality TV, co-hosted with "Saved by the Bell" hunk-turned-talking head Mario Lopez. One night in 2012, Kardashian performed her "X Factor" hosting job as usual, talking about the performers, throwing to commercials, etc. All the while, the sheer top with privacy-providing panels Kardashian chose to wear did not do its job as usual. Those modesty panels didn't exactly stay in place. The end result: Kardashian's nipples were quite visible throughout an entire episode of "The X Factor." (It's not quite Kim Kardashian-levels of nudity, except that this was network television, not a private home video.)

What do most of these television wardrobe malfunctions have in common? Most of them occurred during live broadcasts, or live-to-tape broadcasts. Pre-taped shows and events in which a zipper suddenly breaks or a private body part busts forth will likely never be seen by the public; if a director can call cut and get another take with a functioning garment, they'll go ahead and do that. Or, if it's a reality show that will air months in the future, they've got the time and technology to edit out, blur, or pixelate such offending moments.

That's why it's perplexing how a brief bit of male nudity on "Survivor" made it through the edit bay, past CBS' "standards and practices" (in other words, censors), and all the way to primetime television. During the two-hour premiere of "Survivor: Gabon" in 2008, contestant Marcus Lehman chased a giant ball during an immunity challenge ... and that's when his genitals popped out of his shorts.

Spring 2023 has brought a change to the daytime television landscape. After the departure of Kelly's co-host, Ryan Seacrest (who hosted with Kelly for six seasons after Regis Philbin's retirement), ABC took on her husband, Mark Consuelos, as Kelly's permanent "Live!" co-anchor. In their second-ever episode as permanent cohosts on April 18th, Kelly and Mark practiced a couple's ballroom dance alongside their guests, Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy. Turns out her wardrobe team should have put her in something a little more durable!

Kelly and Mark made a good show of practicing the dance with Jenna and Val only for Kelly's dress to rip down the back as Mark bowed her over his knee. Kelly is a consummate professional, though, and brushed off the malfunction almost immediately. "It's just a breakaway dress. Who cares!" She said, laughing with her guests and the audience. Apparently, later on, when Kelly and Mark were practicing again during a camera break, she also kicked off her shoe. There are many more hazards than one might expect in the life of a daytime television host.

Obviously, jumping off of a plank of thick plastic that sits at least 10 meters above a swimming pool is going to come with bodily risks. Because they need to make it look spectacular as well, divers are often not focused on anything except controlling every part of their body, so it's not uncommon to see divers lose their trunks after a powerful dive. Tom Daley, an Olympic gold medalist from Britain, has experienced it several times on live television, most notably during a televised diving event in 2015. 

Daley, like many Olympic athletes, has attracted many amorous fans thanks to his charming good looks and winning attitude, but that doesn't mean it's not still difficult to deal with the public exposure of his bum on a regular basis. "As a diver, you're up on the diving board and you're so naked, so visible, so it's quite hard to be content with your body, because you always want to be better," said Daley on the "Table Manners" podcast. 

Anything can happen on "Watch What Happens Live" with Andy Cohen. People fight, tea is dropped, and fashion icons suffer awkward wardrobe malfunctions. Sarah Jessica Parker, famed "Sex and the City" actress, has appeared on "Watch What Happens Live" a few times, and during her 2016 spot on the show, she came out donning a blue, velvet Alberta Ferretti number. Unfortunately, she was also sporting a big rip in the sleeve of the dress.

Sarah Jessica Parker's "Sex and the City" character Carrie Bradshaw experienced many of her own wardrobe-related snafus on the HBO show, and it seems like they probably gave Parker the confidence to carry on through awkward moments in her own life, as she proudly displayed the tear to Andy Cohen and his audience. Parker also took the time to protect the dress's designer, saying, "This in no way reflects on the House of Ferretti."

Mariah Carey appeared on a 2013 episode of Good Morning America to give a live, outdoor performance. Carey was wearing one of her signature body-hugging, sequined frocks the color of rose gold and, in this particular case, designed by Versace. Just as she was about to begin her performance after a glowing introduction from GMA host/correspondent Lara Spencer, one of the straps on Carey's dress snapped.

It's not too difficult to find a clip of the wardrobe malfunction moment on YouTube. Carey was certainly taken aback by the snap, actually swearing into the mic as it happened, but Spencer immediately reassured her and held up the broken strap, and someone from the wardrobe team was onstage in moments to fix the issue. Carey caught her dress before revealing any skin that wasn't already showing, and the performance went on a few minutes later.

Given Carey's diva reputation, it seems like everyone on hand at GMA that day was prepared to support her through any potential snafus and they did a great job handling what could have easily been a much bigger problem.

Kelly Ripa may have had the most recent wardrobe malfunction on ABC's "Live!" but Ryan Seacrest holds the record for the total number of wardrobe mishaps ever had on the show. Seacrest, who hosted "Live!" with Kelly Ripa for six seasons (he recently left the show this past year), had more than a few wardrobe malfunctions during his tenure. 

Seacrest discovered that his tight button-up shirt was being reinforced by duct tape during a broadcast of the show alongside Kelly Ripa's fill-in, Ali Wentworth. A few months before that, Seacrest's button had popped off as he was introducing a segment, and it's likely his team wanted to avoid another incident. Seacrest seems to like his clothes very tight, and as a result, he's lost multiple buttons, acknowledged several gaps of exposed skin, and even torn his pants over the course of his six seasons as  "Live!" co-host. 

It's unclear if Seacrest's many wardrobe mishaps contributed to his decision to leave the show, but it does seem like the universe was trying to tell him something.