Los Angeles journalist goes viral keeping calm while a cockroach crawls over her during on-air report

Los Angeles KTLA 5 news reporter Rachel Menitoff went viral Wednesday after a late-night report featuring an unwanted pest.

During Menitoff's live report in Sherman Oaks on an ongoing heat wave Tuesday night, a cockroach appeared to land on Menitoff's stomach before crawling across her neck and chest.

"And it’s a lot more comfortable at this hour, but we’re still in the 80s here in the Valley," Menitoff said. "So, overnight temperatures aren’t necessarily dropping, and this leads to less recovery time from the daytime heat."

Despite the insect's arrival, Menitoff continued her report unfazed as the bug jumped onto her microphone and proceeded to fly away.

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Menitoff’s colleagues covered the video the next morning, sharing video of the reporter after the live shot ended, where she began to brush the bug off of her.

"Oh gosh. Oh, I feel something," Menitoff said.

The morning reporters praised Menitoff's on-air composure, joking that they would not have remained as calm as she was in the same situation.

"That’s our Rachel Menitoff, who is so professional," anchor Megan Henderson said. "She kept her cool. There’s no way I would have been able to keep going."

"I have to hand it to her. She was really calm," reporter Eric Spillman said.

"That’s terrifying," meteorologist Kirk Hawkins said. "Now we’re all going to have nightmares about flying cockroaches."

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In a KTLA interview, Menitoff described that she was aware of the cockroach crawling over her but was concerned that she would not be unable to complete the report if she took action.

"I said to myself, ‘Just get through this moment and then kind of shake it off,’" Menitoff said.

"Ironically, the story was about the extreme heat in the Valley, and these cockroaches are attracted to the heat and the warm temperatures and our camera lights," she added. "So, it was sort of the perfect environment for the roaches."

Fox News Digital reached out to Menitoff for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

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The clip was shared across social media by journalists and commentators who both praised Menitoff's composure and criticized Los Angeles' unclean conditions.

"Had this happened to me, I would have freaked out," The Daily News Drop anchor Jeff Vaughn wrote.

Conservative commentator Steve Guest wrote, "Karen Bass’s LA is overrun by cockroaches. Gross."

"Why I prefer print. KTLA would've had a hefty fine for the number of curses that would've come out of my mouth if this happened to me. What a pro," Arizona Mirror reporter Jerod MacDonald-Evoy commented.

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt remarked, "Nithya Raman has made her district so filthy, you can't even do a quick news hit without cockroaches crawling all over you like some Mumbai slum. The median home price here is $1.5M."

"@RachelMenitoff would’ve crushed it on 'Fear Factor,'" "Good Morning America" co-anchor Gio Benitez wrote.