Woman Lighting a Cigarette and Exploding is a reaction meme that originally comes from an episode of the British serial series, EastEnders. The meme regularly appears online—as video, a still, and a gif—to make light of distressing or embarrassing moments.
What EastEnders scene is the Woman Lighting a Cigarette and Exploding meme from?
The memorable moment from the British soap opera, EastEnders, comes from an episode that originally aired on June 18, 2008. The distressing scene shows the character May “Mad May” Wright, portrayed by Amanda Drew, in hysterics, walking around her messy Miller house in tears.
May grabs a wrapped gift and unwraps it, revealing a carousel music box. She sings a lullaby in the tune of the music box. The camera pans away and reveals that the gas oven is on with the door open. Tearfully and with shaking hands, she puts a cigarette to her lips and lights it, with the house’s first floor seen exploding a split second later.
The gif started being used as a reaction in late November 2023, when a Twitter user used it along with an update that they discovered their crush was married. Since then, it’s surprising how many moments a woman lighting a cigarette and exploding can encompass.
Meme examples:
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