(July 1998 Poster Edition of BB Magazine)

Please note that world-renowned stardom does not excuse the talented, cute and popular from finding themselves turning into big, red tomato faces now and then. Take it from the Backstreet Boys-being in the public eye so often, these guys are actually used to being in embarrassing situations. However, that still doesn’t prepare the Orlando, Florida-based five-Nick Carter, Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough-for when those trip-ups pop up!

Brian can certainly vouch for that: One time this Backstreet Boy was caught with his pants down, literally! This sticky sitch happened during an outdoor concert when Brian was performing a song in a pair of overalls, which he wore unhooked and cinched around his waist with a belt. The belt somehow came loose and, well, you get the idea! "I remember seeing girls’ faces." The 23-year-old recalls, "and they were looking and pointing at me and laughing like this is wonderful."

For Kevin, 26, his time to blush came onstage, too, but his pants didn’t fall down-he fell down! "I slipped on water and landed right on my butt right in front of everybody during the opening song of a show," Kevin grimacingly tells BB.

And for Nick, it was catching his shoes in some stairs on stage, forcing him to fly out of them, that left this blond boy in a pickle "That was embarrassing," Nick, 18, says of his onstage slip-up.

Embarrassing situations follow the Backstreet Boys offstage, too. One of these situations definitely caught A.J. by surprise-or perhaps it’s better to say it caught his date right between the eyes! Upon trying to impress a girl one evening, A.J. tried removing the cork from a bottle of sparkling juice they were about to share, only to aim it directly for her face! "It hit her so hard," the 20-year-old singer laments, "and the rest of the night I was just apologizing."

Last but not least, let’s not forget about Howie Dorough, even though he’s been known to forget what he’s in the middle of saying. Take, for instance, the time he was performing the national anthem for his high school when he suddenly became panic-stricken. "For some reason, I registered a wrong note in my head and I sang down a couple of notes lower than normal." Howie, 24, explains to BB. "So I tried to harmonize, and by doing that I totally lost my concentration of what I was saying. I was looking over at the cheerleaders and they were all giggling."

So the next time you find yourself in an embarrassing predicament, just remember, you’re not the only one!