Dominique Dillon On Air Sleepy spread after the Memphis-based reporter briefly dozed off during a live July 29 segment on Good Morning Memphis. The clip later went viral, turning a few seconds on camera into a much larger public moment. Fox 13 then framed it as a relatable stumble for a mother returning to work before sunrise.
Dominique Dillon and July 29
Dillon told Craig Melvin and Laura Jarrett on Today that she was mortified. She said, “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,’” and added, “I am mortified.”
She said the moment happened because the night before was crowded with childcare. Dillon said she was managing two babies while her husband worked a double shift, and that her 8-month-old would not settle down after teething. “I was trying to get them down to sleep at 8 o’clock, but my 8-month-old, she wasn’t having it,” she said.
Good Morning Memphis producers
Dillon said the delay stretched late into the night. “She was teething, and I just couldn’t console her. I gave her some teething medicine, and nothing was working. The next thing you know it’s 10:30, 11 o’clock before I can actually get her down to sleep,” she said. She then said she had only a couple hours to rest before waking up at 1:30 a.m. for her early morning shift, which runs from 4:30 to 5 a.m.
She said the on-air nap happened so fast that the producers thought she was looking down at her tablet. “They’re there, but they didn’t think I was sleeping,” Dillon said. “They thought I was simply looking down at my tablet, because who falls asleep in one minute, sitting up, in front of cameras?”
Fox 13 and Aug. 5
Fox 13 later called the moment “the power nap” in an Aug. 4 article and said it garnered national attention. The station said it was proud to have Dominique in the spotlight and added that the moment showed how difficult it can be for new mothers to get back in the groove after returning to work.
On Aug. 5, Fox 13 told it appreciated “this as a very relatable moment.” The station also said, “Like so many working parents, Dominique is balancing the demands of raising young children and a career that begins before sunrise,” and, “We’re grateful for the support and grace our audience has shown Dominique.”
Ernie Freeman called Dillon “Sleeping Beauty” after the broadcast. The story now stands as a brief live-TV mistake that unfolded into wider attention for a reporter who had returned from maternity leave in April and was trying to cover an early shift after a short night at home.
