A trip to the dentist ended up taking one Provo woman to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”
Corona, California native Jayci Underwood recently went to the dentist to have her wisdom teeth removed. This was not her first time under anesthesia, so her husband, Matt Underwood, and mother, Lori Stephen, anticipated her being a little loopy after waking up.
Matt Underwood is a BYU volleyball player and is majoring in exercise science. He and Stephen had failed to record Jayci before, but they made sure to document it this time.
Jayci Underwood’s family was not disappointed with the results. Jayci Underwood revived with the idea that she was going to wake up as female rapper Nicki Minaj.
“I wanted to look like Nicki Minaj when I woke up,” she said. “ I just wanted to have her butt … and her face.”
She also said she wanted to be friends with comedienne and TV personality Ellen DeGeneres. She grieved on the video at the thought of never getting the chance to meet DeGeneres.
Her husband tried cheering her up telling her that maybe one day she will meet DeGeneres, to which Jayci Underwood responded, “Doubt it!”
The video was soon posted to Facebook, where Jayci Underwood thought friends and family would find the video entertaining. Before she knew it it had more than 1,000 likes. That convinced her to upload the video onto YouTube.
The next thing she knew, E! News, Time and Yahoo had seen the tape and reposted it on their pages.
The real growth came after Minaj reposted the video on her Instagram and Twitter. The video went from 20,000 views to more than one million in less than one day.
Jayci Underwood was surprised at the world’s reaction to her video, but she was even more surprised when she received a phone call from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” inviting her to meet Ellen in California.
Jayci Underwood and her husband jumped on a plane late on Nov. 2 to meet DeGeneres and film their segment of the show the following day.
The trip was well worth it. Degeneres handed Jayci Underwood a Nicki Minaj costume and pink wig, a giant check for $20 and a $5,000 gift card to Target.
Jayci Underwood could not believe what was happening. She said Ellen was everything she expected her to be and more, describing her as the “most genuine and kindhearted” person she has met.
She said everyone has been begging her to post a picture of her Nicki Minaj costume on her social media pages, but she is still waiting for it in the mail.
She plans to use the Target gift card to buy groceries for a really long time. She also plans to continue her family’s tradition of helping a family in need during the holiday season.
“I love being able to help and bless those in need,” Jayci Underwood said. She also said she did not expect to receive anything from Degeneres, but she now wants to pay it forward.
“It was a really fun experience,” she said about the whole incident. “I am really grateful for it, and I will never forget it.”
