Peloton, the indoor bike start-up, has been facing a lot of criticism lately over an ad they released in November. In the highly-discussed commercial, a husband gives his wife the exercise bike as a holiday gift. From there, viewers see bits and pieces of her fitness journey over the next year, which concludes with the pair watching a highlight reel on their sofa. The commercial can be seen below.

Now, Monica Ruiz, who played the part of the "Peloton wife" in the ad, has given her first interview.

On Thursday's episode of "Today," the actress spoke to host Hoda Kotb about what she has experienced in recent weeks and the one thing she believes could have caused the strong reaction.

Initially, Ruiz shared that she only heard from friends and family whenever they happened to see the ad. However, she soon began hearing that people were "really upset," which made her ask why. Upon looking into it, she saw the negativity, so she decided to refrain from reading anything else.

"I kinda stopped reading it [the negative comments], thinking, 'It's gonna blow over,' but it didn't really blow over as quickly as I thought it would," she told the host.

Continuing, Ruiz elaborated on what she believed could have added to the backlash. "Honestly, I think it was just my face. It was my fault. My eyebrows looked, like, worried, I guess. People were like, 'She looks scared.' I'm telling you, it was my face, that was the problem, and then it just exploded from there."

Shortly after the Peleton commercial went viral, Ruiz then decided to star in another commercial for actor Ryan Reynolds' Aviation Gin, which made light of the entire situation. Though she initially felt a bit of hesitation to do a new ad so soon after the backlash, she ultimately decided to go for it.

"I hope that people can just see me as an actress, 'cause that's what I am - I like to do movies and TV, commercials," she added. "So I hope people can remember that I'm not actually the Peloton lady and let me work other jobs."

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A Peloton stationary bike sits on display at one of the fitness company's studios on Dec. 4, 2019, in New York City. Scott Heins/Getty Images
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