Dominique Dillon Reacts After Falling Asleep Live on Air
Fox 13 anchor Dominique Dillon went viral after falling asleep live on air during a July 29 episode of Good Morning Memphis. The exhausted mother of two young children, who had spent the night caring for a teething infant, received an overwhelmingly positive response from viewers and parents nationwide.
Local morning news anchor Dominique Dillon realized she had been dozing off during a live broadcast, it felt like a bad dream. 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,’ Dillon told Craig Melvin and Laura Jarrett in a TODAY exclusive on August 5. I am mortified. I was pinching myself under the desk like, ‘This has to be a nightmare.’ Like one of those work nightmares, because this is not my life right now.
The moment quickly captured national attention after a viewer recorded the broadcast and posted it online. As the outlet reported, Dominique Dillon was caught sleeping on air during an episode of Good Morning Memphis on July 29.
A Teething Infant and an Early Morning Alarm
Dillon normally wakes up at 1:30 a.m. to prepare for her early anchor shift from 4:30 to 5 a.m. The night before the broadcast, her husband was working a double shift at BNSF Railway while she tried to put her two young daughters to bed.
“I have a two-year-old, and 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.”
Support pours in for Memphis news anchor, a new mom, who fell asleep on live TV
Dominique Dillon, News Anchor, Good Morning Memphis
It was 11 p.m. before the infant finally fell asleep, leaving Dillon with just a couple of hours of rest before her alarm sounded. Working on minimal sleep, she drifted off into a mini-nap in the studio while a reporter was on location. Her colleague, Fox 13 meteorologist Brittani DuBose, whispered her name from across the room to wake her up.
Behind the scenes, the control room staff did not immediately realize what was happening. They’re there, but they didn’t think I was sleeping, Dillon explained. They thought I was simply looking down at my tablet — because who falls asleep in one minute, sitting up, in front of cameras?
Viewer Support and the Realities of Working Motherhood
The internet can be an unforgiving space after a viral workplace mishap, but support poured in for Dominique Dillon from viewers who recognized the punishing schedule of early morning shifts and parenting. Social media users rallied behind her, with one local meteorologist noting, I’ve been there and I get it, and another viewer commenting, all mamas get it.
Photo: madamenoire.com
Dillon expressed gratitude for the empathy shown by the public. 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’s so many 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 ‘nother full-time job as well, and they’re giving 100% to their families.
Her colleagues also leaned into the humor. Co-anchor Ernie Freeman shared a playful selfie with Dillon pretending to nap, writing that it was time for her to catch another nap now that the show was over. Dillon reposted the image on Facebook with the reply, Couldn’t even give me a nudge. Brittani DuBose FOX13 had my back though!
Reflections From a Career in Broadcast News
The California native started her career in news in 2017, working in Texas and Louisiana before joining the station in Memphis in 2019. Having recently returned from maternity leave in April after welcoming her second child in December, she hopes her experience encourages other parents navigating similar exhaustion.
Photo: wral.com
The morning after the viral incident, Dillon shared an inspirational quote from former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Facebook: Every morning, you have two choices: continue to sleep with your dreams or wake up and chase them.
“I just want parents to know that you’re doing a great job, and keep it up. And 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.”
Dominique Dillon, News Anchor, Good Morning Memphis
Memphis news anchor falls asleep live on-air during newscast
Lucia Moretti is the editorial identity for TellingPointy's Culture desk, exploring film, television, music, books, gaming, creators, and the media industries around them. Moretti treats culture as both art and infrastructure: a place where taste, technology, money, identity, and power meet. Her desk moves beyond publicity cycles to ask why a work resonates, how it was made and distributed, whose perspective is missing, and what its reception reveals about the moment.
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