ABC7's Leslie Lopez, Dr. Lucy Jones reflect on being working parents after live TV baby cameo
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- An adorable news blooper, in which ABC7's Leslie Lopez's 10-month-old son crawled onto her leg live on air as she was in the middle of her weather forecast, is now creating a bigger conversation about working parents.
Baby Nolan's impromptu interruption soon went viral and has been viewed two million times on Twitter. In the video, Lopez laughs it off like a pro and scoops up baby Nolan for a little on-camera time.
"He walks now guys, so I've lost all control."
The video garnered widespread attention from celebrities such as Elizabeth Banks and Dan Rather, even Robert Kelly, the "BBC blooper dad" who also made headlines after his children walked in on a live television interview.
But perhaps the best reaction came from Southern California's very own "rock star": renowned seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones, who is no stranger to the buzz that comes from a baby showing up on live television.
Nearly 30 years ago, her own baby, Niels, was also in the spotlight after Jones carried him in her arms during a press conference just after the 1992 Joshua Tree earthquake.
"When I did it, it was a magnitude 6 at 10 o'clock at night and my husband is also a seismologist and we both had to respond, we had to do it," Jones recalled. "There was a computer crisis and my husband literally handed me the baby in the middle of an interview. We put him down (and) he screamed. Okay, you just do it. And that's it, you just do it."
"It's an interesting thing that the pandemic's bringing us...We can't pull off the myth that your kids don't exist," she added.
Dr. Jones said the response to her viral moment with baby Niels was overwhelmingly positive.
"You know, the symbol of working motherhood. The downside was 'you showed we can have it all' and I was like no, you can't have it all. I'm not giving my kid enough time, I'm not giving my work enough time," she said.
Her son was 19 months old when he appeared on camera with her. Now he's 30 and getting his PhD in earth science. Dr. Jones also now has an 8-week-old grandson.
"The whole circle comes around."
RELATED | News anchor at ABC 7 Chicago wears glasses on-air to boost daughter's confidence
MORE | Woman goes into labor while taking bar exam
