Lauren Sanchez Talks Inspiration Behind Children’s Book ‘The Fly Who Flew to Space’ (Exclusive)

“Extra’s” Billy Bush sat down with our former correspondent Lauren Sanchez to talk about her new children’s book, “The Fly Who Flew to Space” and her upcoming wedding to Jeff Bezos.

Billy asked, “What does it feel like to roll back in here?”

She said, “It's so much fun. It feels... It's exciting. It's a different set but a lot of the same people, so it feels like home.”

Bush joked, “I told you we ordered this set from Amazon and we did… same day.”

Lauren joked, “Did it get here on time?” and Billy teased, “It said promo code Lauren Sanchez.”

Looking back at her time with “Extra,” Sanchez said, “I have the best memories. It was one of my first jobs out of college. I got to travel the world, so I literally went out of the country for the first time with ‘Extra.’”

Billy asked, “You grew up humbly?”

She replied, “Very humble. I never felt like I was lacking for anything. I grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. My grandmother was a housekeeper. I used to have to go with her to clean houses before school. She'd put me in the car. It was at 5 a.m. in the morning and I'd sleep in there while she cleaned the house.”

Opening up about “The Fly Who Flew to Space,” she said, “It's really true and dear to my heart. I was flying with my kids. And a fly was stuck in the cockpit and we looked around and I was like… ‘Oh, this poor little fly.’ My kids were like… ‘Think about what this fly can see. It's gonna go back and go, ‘Mom, you're not going to believe what happened.’ In that moment, I looked at my kids and I go... ‘This would make a great children's book.’”

Lauren continued, “The fly has a lot of difficulties in school. It kind of wanders and daydreams and that's how she gets into this space capsule. And I used to say the fly was my son — my son who is dyslexic. I've realized it's me. I struggled in school and I just always thought I was dumb. Literally, just thought I was dumb. And I lived with it my whole life. And I had one teacher — a journalism teacher — say, ‘Just write without punctuation or spelling. I just want to see how you write.’ I turned in the paper and she looked at me and she goes, ‘You're not dumb. You just can't spell.’ Changed my whole life. Got me tested for dyslexia. I went from a 2.0 student to a 3.8. Got into USC and then started my journalism career.”

She went on, “Everyone thought it's a learning disability. It's not. It's a learning difference. And that's what this book is for. It's for kids who feel out of place because they're not learning the same way everyone else is in class but they're going to be okay.”

Billy also asked about her upcoming wedding to Bezos and jokingly offered to be the ring bearer. She played along, “Oh, that's good. That's good. I was looking for one.”

In all seriousness, she continued, “I'm really excited about [the wedding]. I’ve been focusing on the book obviously, get to the wedding soon.”

She gushed, “You know what I'm most excited about? I get to marry the man of my dreams. I do. He's amazing. I get to spend the rest of my life with him and he loves my kids. And that is really what I am looking forward to.”