Instead of a big round of applause, Katherine Heigl was the centre of audience's stares when she went on to receive a trophy at a recent award function, courtesy an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction. he strap on the former 'Grey's Anatomy' star's red dress broke when she was on stage at the ShoWest awards ceremony in Las Vegas.

The 31-year-old actress was accepting the Female Star of the Year award at Thursday's ceremony, which is the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners.

And when Heigl started to thank the large audience, one of her straps broke, leaving the shocked actress struggling to hold up the dress and cover her modesty.

However, the sporting actress continued undeterred, and managed to say her thanks, but asked the host, Billy Bush to help hold up the strap, reports the Telegraph.

'The Ugly Truth' star later managed to smile and laugh off the incident. (ANI)