The "Peloton Wife" Is Speaking Out, Saying Her Face Was The Problem In The Infamous Ad

Monica Ruiz spoke out about being the face of the widely panned Peloton commercial.

The actor who played the wife in the widely mocked Peloton holiday commercial jokingly took the blame for the criticism, saying it was likely her "worried" facial expressions that caused the problem.

Monica Ruiz spoke out Thursday in her first television interview since the ad went infamously viral and caused Peloton's stock to plummet.

"Honestly, I think it was just my face," Ruiz told the Today show's Hoda Kotb.

"It was my fault. My eyebrows looked worried, I guess. People were like, 'She looked scared,'" the actor said, laughing.

“It was my face that was my problem,” Monica Ruiz, actress in viral Peloton ad, jokes about why the commercial went viral and explains why she wanted to share her story

Ruiz's unintentionally frightened reaction to being gifted an exercise bike for Christmas by her husband — without asking for one — and then making a home video of her fitness journey prompted comparisons to a "hostage video" and a "horror movie."

Peloton stood by the ad saying it was "disappointed in how some have misinterpreted" it.

Responding to the widespread criticism of the ad, Ruiz joked, "I'm telling you it was my face. That was the problem and it just exploded from there."

She said she looked "worried" in the ad: "I'm like, Oh no, my eyebrows...they move!"

Ruiz said that even as she saw her face everywhere, she didn't want to address the controversy publicly, hoping it would blow over soon.

But she decided to come forward after "people started answering for me" and when she saw some of her old interviews being used in articles.

"I was like, Ok, I'll just let everyone know I'm fine," she said. "I'm OK, I'm not in a rehab for mental health anywhere."

Ruiz, who is a mom of two, told Today that she hopes people can see her as an actor who does movies and commercials.

"I hope people can remember that I'm not actually the 'Peloton lady' and let me work other jobs," she said.

Ruiz did get another job soon after the commercial when she starred in an ad for Aviation Gin, partly owned by actor Ryan Reynolds, that poked fun at the Peloton ad.

In the ad, a stunned-looking Ruiz gulps down the gin while her friends comfort her at a bar.

Reynolds tweeted out the ad, saying, "Exercise bike not included."

Exercise bike not included. #AviationGin

Ruiz said that she was initially worried about doing the Aviation Gin ad because she didn't want Peloton to think she "was making fun of them."

But she said the idea was to just "take the air out of the situation."

Reynolds also dropped by the Today show to meet Ruiz for the first time.

He said that when he saw the Peloton commercial, he thought about sending a year's supply of gin to Ruiz.

"She doesn't have to film herself," he said.

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