Paul Mescal utterly mortified as fan, 5, asks very personal question about his 'short shorts'

Irish actor Paul Mescal held his face in his hands in embarrassment as a five-year-old fan quizzed him on his fashion choices when it comes to his famous O'Neills shorts

Gladiator II star Paul Mescal was left squirming and mortified after an inquisitive child asked him why his signature shorts were so short.

Appearing on BBC Radio 1, Paul was left red-faced when a five-year-old listener called Lily phoned in to ask the Irish actor her burning question as his biggest movie role yet is released today. The Normal People star plays the lead role of Lucius, son of the first movie's main character, Maximus, in Gladiator II.

While promoting his biggest role to date on BBC Radio 1, Paul was swiftly taken down a peg or two when his young fan asked: "Hi Paul. Why are your shorts so short?".

Erupting into laughter, bashful Paul quickly covered his face in embarrassment but proceeded to answer Lily's rather personal question. "Good question Lily. Lily's mum definitely asked her to ask this question.

"Lily, they are sports shorts, they're not custom-made for me to be short - they are just very practical for exercise and they're great for running in."

Paul then added: "I might like next summer just have my bum hanging out. I'll go for the hot pants look maybe."

It comes after Paul recently responded to TikTok one night stand claims. Farfetched rumours emerged earlier this year that he was "running away" from his dates as videos started being posted on the social media platform.

The clips in question alleged that the 28-year-old had string of one night stands and then them in a park as he jogged away.

However, it seems that Paul's mum hasn't seen the funny side of it, with Pau being forced to set the record straight and confirm that the rumours were false. While he admitted that he actually found the videos amusing, his mum didn't feel quite the same as him and his other siblings as she found the accusations upsetting.

Speaking to GQ, he said: "We were looking at the videos and we were p****** ourselves at it. Categorically untrue. And we were laughing, laughing, laughing, laughing…And the one thing that upset me was that I was in the kitchen, I remember my mum looking at the videos and she was getting upset. Isn’t that devastating?

"I was like, Oh, it’s funny to us—my brother, me, my sister—because we know that this is the way the internet works. It’s hilarious. If it was true, it’d be f****** bad, but as a rumor, it’s funny. Then I was like, Oh, if you’re a mother, her impulse is to come out and be like, 'He wouldn’t do this.'"

The Normal People star's latest project sees him starring in Gladiator II, in cinemas today, which features a star studded cast including Pedro Pascal, Denzel Washington, and Joseph Quinn. The ensemble will also see Connie Nielsen and Derek Jacobi reprising their roles from the first movie.

Mescal plays the lead role of Lucius, son of the first movie's main character, Maximus, who is forced to fight in the Colosseum after an army invades his home. The Irish actor has said he deliberately avoided watching Gladiator before beginning work on the sequel. Although he previously saw Sir Ridley Scott 's epic after it hit cinemas in 2000, he refused to revisit the movie until work on the sequel wrapped.

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