Support is pouring in for Dominique Dillon, a news anchor in Memphis, who has gone viral after a video showed her dozing off during a live report.
Dillon, an anchor and reporter for Good Morning Memphis, was interviewed Wednesday on the Today Show after a viewer captured the video of her sleeping and posted it online.
Other WRAL Top Stories
The mother of two young girls said she just returned from maternity leave in April.
In response to the video, she wrote that, with a new baby at home, her nights are different now.
"I have a two-year-old," Dillon explained. "I have an eight-month-old, and I was trying to get them down to sleep at 8 o'clock, but my eight-month-old wasn't having it. She's fighting. She's teething ... and I just couldn't console her. I gave her some teething medicine, and nothing was working."
Dillon said she didn't get her infant to bed until 11 p.m. -- just a few hours before her own 1:30 a.m. alarm clock. It's a situation a lot of parents and early morning TV hosts can relate to.
People online quickly jumped to Dillon's defense.
A local news meteorologist said, "I've been there and I get it." Someone else wrote "all mamas get it."
Dillon described the moment she realized she was asleep on live TV.
"My meteorologist Brittani Dubose whispered my name from across the room," Dillon explained, saying the control room didn't realize she was sleeping.
"They thought I was simply looking down at my tablet -- because who falls asleep in one minute sitting up in front of cameras?"
Dillon said she was startled.
"I opened my eyes, and it was cutting to the next shot, and I was like, 'Oh my goodness! I can't believe this just happened to me.' I was pinching myself under the desk, like, 'This has to be a nightmare, like one of those work nightmares.'"
The internet is not always a kind place, so Dillon said the outpouring of support meant a lot.
"What I love so much about this situation is that it shows the good side of humanity and that people understand what I'm going through as a mother," she said. "There are so many other mothers out there, and parents in general, who work hard. They show up to work, they give 100%, and then they go home, and that's like a whole other full-time job as well ... they're giving 100% to their families."
The California native got her start in news in 2017, working in Texas and Louisiana before moving to Memphis two years later. On Wednesday, she shared a message for other parents who are struggling to get enough sleep.
"I just want parents to know that you're doing a great job, and keep it up," she said. "To the mothers out there, those long nights -- they're worth it. Continue to show up to work, give your best, and then also come home and give your best to your children as well. Because all they want is for their parents to show up and be there for them."