"She looks like she was forced into this" — Internet reacts to Gayle King seemingly looking miserable while ringing the bell after her trip to space

On Monday, April 11, Gayle King joined Blue Origin's first all-women flight crew on Monday, alongside singer Katy Perry, philanthropist Lauren Sanchez, NASA scientist Aisha Bowe, activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

The flight, which lasted around 11 minutes, took the six women than 100 km (62 miles) above Earth, to the Kármán line - the internationally recognized boundary of space.

Upon returning from the mission, everyone from the crew rang the ceremonious bell as a tradition, which was filmed and uploaded on social media.

The video clip was retweeted by an X user - who goes by @jasonsproblems - on Monday evening, and has since gone viral, receiving 9.5 million views, 161K likes, and 10K retweets.

Netizens have been reacting to it, with one of them commenting:

"she looks like she was forced into this"

Some netizens compared King's expression at the time of ringing the bell to several humorous scenarios.

"somebody just said she looks like she’s clocking into her minimum wage job omg???" - commented an X user.

"Gayle stressed tf out she bout to go get a pack of Newport Methol Shorts" - added another.

"Gayle walking like she’s about to interview aliens" - wrote a third netizen.

"Gayle walking like she already been to the moon and back" - replied a fourth one.

Meanwhile, others criticized the practice of questioning someone's worth based on appearance.

"Is questioning someone's worth based on appearance still acceptable in today's society?" - questioned a fifth user.

"So this is serious?? Even after those other got stuck up there for MONTHS ." - tweeted a sixth one.

"I don’t mean this to be a jerk but has BO launched enough of anything to really have any “tradition”?" - commented a seventh netizen.

For the unversed, the flight was part of the NS-31mission - which marked the 11th human flight of Jeff Bezos' New Shepard program.

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Gayle King said she felt proud of herself for overcoming her fear of flying

After returning from the mission, Gayle King talked to CBS News about her experience, saying that she wouldn't call it a "ride" but a "bona fide freakin' flight". King added that she was proud of herself for overcoming her fear of flying.

Describing the Kármán line as "oddly quiet" and "peaceful," Gayle King continued:

"You look down at the planet and you think, 'That's where we came from?' To me, it's such a reminder about how we need to do better - be better."

Then talking about the microgravity, the TV personality claimed that despite their trainings, she still found it to be "very difficult," especailly when they had to get back into their seat and strap in to make the trip back down.

"I looked like a freakin' moose getting in the chair. It was like, 'Just let me get in the chair! Let me get the seatbelt on!'"

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Gayle King also shared that when she panicked, Katy Perry soothed her by singing What A Wonderful World, which she found to be really special.