Gayle King survived her trip to space but, thanks to online memes and the Internet, faced plenty of roasting.
Her CBS Mornings co-stars ensured she saw plenty of those memes and remarks as they joined in on the fun of joking about her facial expression.
While Gayle initially admitted to being apprehensive and anxious about the trip, the brief excursion was successful.
On Monday, she and her five crewmates, including singer Katy Perry and author and philanthropist Lauren Sanchez, recorded video footage inside the Blue Origin rocket’s capsule.
The women experienced a feeling of weightlessness and, courtesy of Perry were treated to an a cappella version of What a Wonderful World.
However, a pre-launch video and photo of Gayle with her crewmates received much attention.
Gayle reacted to scared-face memes on CBS Mornings
Upon her return to CBS Mornings from her Blue Origin trip, Gayle King reunited with Nate Burleson, Tony Dokoupil, and Vladimir Duthiers to discuss the journey.
Her three co-stars delighted in presenting video footage of various Blue Origin NS-31 crew members ringing a bell on a bridge before boarding the rocket.
Most of the crew seemed enthusiastic except Gayle. Her serious look suggested she didn’t want to be part of the trip.
“It’s a moment that is taking the internet by storm,” Nate said as CBS Mornings played a video of the crew members each ringing the bell.
“And there comes Gayle. Yeah, ring-a-ling-a-ling-a-ding,” Nate joked, adding as the video paused on her expression, “Look at her face.”
“That’s called fear, Nate!” Gayle shouted before the memes appeared on-screen.
“If I send you this it means I’m gonna do it but I don’t want to,” Nate said, reading one of the memes.
He read another that said: “Gayle King is all of us on a Monday.”
“I swear to God no one’s ever wanted to go to space less than Gayle King,” another meme said.
Nate read a final one: “Gayle rethinking all of her life choices.”
Everyone laughed hysterically over the memes, with Gayle also seeming amused.
Gayle explained her ‘terrified’ look before the trip
“I was just thinking, ‘Let me get into my seat and follow instructions,’” Gayle explained.
Her co-stars said they thought she looked “locked in” and had her “game face” on as they covered it live on CBS Mornings.
“Gayle looks like how I feel for her right now,” Tony tossed in as another jab during the segment.
“Gayle looks like on her way to electric chair,” a commenter wrote.
Others said, “This is hilarious,” and “I can’t believe she went back to work after all that! I would’ve been on vacation!”
“The memes are hilarious. We feel Gayle,” a commenter wrote.
Through CBS Mornings, she maintained that she was “scared” about the trip but wouldn’t back out even when she had the opportunity before launch.
In another video, Gayle commented that she’d heard she became a meme while walking on the bridge to board the rocket capsule.
“I didn’t realize I was being photographed at that moment, nor did I realize that my expression looked so terrified, but I was,” she said.
Following the successful landing, each woman stepped out of the capsule to celebrate their official return to Earth. Gayle soaked up the moment with a powerful victory pose before stepping down and kissing the ground.
“I have never been so happy to be here on this planet,” she said following the journey.