Piesie Esther recounts GMA-UK '23 wardrobe malfunction

Piesie Esther has recounted with a mix of concern and fortitude the wardrobe malfunction she suffered performing at this year's Ghana Music Awards, UK.

On Thursday, November 23, 2023, guesting on Accra 100.5 FM's Ayekoo Ayekoo, sit-in host Akua Sonto observed that, though sweetly plump, the singer is not one to expose her body for fashion statements. Lauding Piesie for being an honourable woman, emulated by many, Sonto broached the GMA-UK incident.


Showing no signs of embarassment, the Mo hitmaker opened up about the issue, explaining it happened on her blind side. Realising it late, and though unflattering, she said she resolved on the elevated stage to stay her mind on her mission: performing for the audience in the Royal Regency, London, auditorium, Saturday, October 7, 2023.

"While on the stage, I did not realise what was going on. Look, my mind was totally removed from that.

"It happens to women – everyone. I'm sure you've had a faulty zip before, haven't you?" she asked Sonto, who responded with a story of her own.

Piesie narrated: "I know a father figure and pastor who, while preaching, tore the underparts of his trousers, putting him in an awkward walking situation."

"This thing can happen to anyone," she emphasised.

She refuted the notion that, perhaps, the dress was unduly tight and, thus, bound to tear.

"And concerning my dress for the event – you saw me go up the stage for an award, in it. It was not uncomfortably body-hugging. No. It's just that your zip can get faulty at any time.

"Apart from that, it was a totally new dress but God does as he pleases, and it was not an embarassing moment for me at all," she said, explaining with a story: "My mother once told me: 'Never mind people mocking you because your zip suddenly became faulty in public. They disgraced and did worse even to Jesus."

The celebrated Gospel artiste noted a biblical story of when "David heard and saw God was moving him from where he was to place him on the throne of glory, according to the Bible, he danced so much he did not care about accidentally going naked in public".

The singer, who boasts 20 years in the music industry, insinuated she was "very hurt" that no one drew her attention to the zip in time but "I didn't stop performing."

"I was still doing what I was supposed to do. I was preoccupied with my primary goal on the stage, and not concentrating on my attire," she added.

She lightheartedly opined that were she performing in front of White Westerners, she would have been appreciated for staying focused in spite of her fashion accident.

"If it were a White audience, they would have applauded me but Africans are not like that," she said, seemingly holding back laughter.

Piesie Esther added that rather than be scarred by the episode, she is strengthened.

"These things shape our lives, and I've learned from it. It's all good. It's all valuable," she noted.

"When I was up there busily singing, trust me, I could see my manager trying to get my attention by making some signs but I couldn't understand it but eventually when I noticed it, I told myself I would not allow it to discourage and distract me. So I focused and did what I had to do," the 2023 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMAs) Gospel Artiste of the Year reflected.

Piesie Esther was ironically singing her megahit Empare Me (May It Not Happen To Me) when a zip under her left arm came undone, exposing her undergarment. Enduring and finishing the song, however, she received a black jacket and wore it over the chic white gown she was originally in. With a witty remark, and visibly unmoved, she segued into performing her latest hit Mo, with professional grace.