William Shatner had some less than reassuring words of advice for Gayle King ahead of her journey into space.
In 2021, the “Star Trek” actor made history when he became the oldest person to travel to space after flying aboard Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin New Shepard rocket. During a Thursday appearance on “CBS Mornings,” Shatner joined King, 70, to discuss the talk show host’s upcoming space flight, which she will take alongside Katy Perry and Bezos’ fiancée Lauren Sanchez as part of an all-female crew.
At the beginning of the segment, King recalled watching Shatner on TV after he returned from space, noting that he appeared “so euphoric” and “it was so blissful.”
“I watched you, and I thought, what must it be like to feel like that?” King asked.
“You’re going to feel it, Gayle. And I don’t want you to wear that dress because it’s the color of blood, OK?” the actor told King, who was clad in red. “We don’t want any blood, Gayle.”
“No, we don’t want any blood,” King agreed. “You’re right about that.”
Shatner advised King to “take control of your emotions” while on the trip, telling her that she would be “on an adventure” and she had to “embrace it.”
“Yes, that’s how I look at it,” King said.
“You’re lying there waiting to take off — that’s the most exciting moment of all, because the G-forces that are going to be on you,” Shatner said. “You’re going to think, ‘I’m going to die.’ But you’re not going to die, Gayle! You’re on an adventure!”
“You’re on an adventure,” Shatner repeated as King laughed nervously. “Embrace the adventure!”
“You are scaring the bleep out of me now!” King exclaimed.
“Gayle, Gayle, Gayle…” Shatner continued as King leaned over and covered her face with her hands.
“Say a mantra! Say something,” he advised. “When I was lying there and aware the hydrogen was being poured into the ship, and the Hindenburg had burned with hydrogen, I’m thinking, ‘What’s going to be?’ The guy says over the earphones—”
“This is so not helpful!” King interjected.
Trying to redirect the conversation, she asked Shatner, “Were you nervous?”
“Yes!” Shatner exclaimed. “The nitrogen! And going up! The G’s! That’s frightening, girl! But embrace the adventure, embrace it. You’re on an exciting trip that you’ll never do again. You’re going to live through it, and you’ll be fine.”
“Got it,” King replied.
“Just mesmerize yourself,” Shatner added. “It’s the adventure of a lifetime, and you’re going to see the world like nobody… only 600 people have seen it, and you’re going to see it.”
King told him that she was “focusing on that,” but noted that she was “stepping way out of my comfort zone.” When asked if she already had a mantra in mind, King said that she did, and she had been meditating ahead of the trip.
Shatner then recalled that he had been offered one last opportunity to leave the rocket ship in the final moments before launch.
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“‘If you want to get off. Now’s the time,” Shatner remembered being told as King laughed and shook her head. “And I thought, ‘I can’t go. I’m Captain Kirk.’ They might say that to you. It felt badly enough.”
“You remain in your seat,” he emphasized. “You’re on an adventure. Embrace the moment. You’re on a voyage of exploration about your nature.”
The “Boston Legal” star then reflected on experiencing zero gravity.
“There are no words in the English language to explain what weightlessness is like. It is the strangest feeling. Nothing is like it — not swimming in a pool where they have the exercise, the astronauts,” Shatner said.
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He continued, “That’s what you’re going to practice for days on end, and you know what, no matter how much you practice, you can’t imitate it.”
“For me, I wanted to see outside so I didn’t hover around,” Shatner added. “I went to the window to take a look out the window and I advise you to do that because the voyage is over so quickly.”
As the segment was coming to a close, Shatner shared a final warning about what King could expect from the trip.
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“Oh and there’s one more thing,” the Golden Globe winner said. “Between the time you leave your bed and get to the ship and deal with the press and go up in the air and come back down and deal with the press, a long time. And there’s no bathroom facilities. So they’re going to give you diapers.”
King, Perry and Sanchez will be joined by film producer Kerianne Flynn, NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe and civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen on the space flight, which is scheduled for April 14.
