Gayle King is "winging it" as she gets set to travel to space

Gayle, who will be accompanied on the mission by pop star Katy Perry and Bezos' fiancee Lauren Sanchez, told Us Weekly of her preparations: "I'm winging it.

"I'm getting ready. I'm now putting my bag together. Like, what do you put in the bag to go to space, right?"

Gayle revealed that she has asked her grandson Lucas if she could take one of his stuffed animals to keep her company on the rocket.

She explained: "So I'm staying with my daughter. I just asked my favourite grandson, 'Could you pick out your favourite animal, one of your favourite stuffed animals, that could go with me to space and keep 'Gyla' company? So he's looking."

King admits that her anxiety levels for the space trip are through the roof as the April 14 launch date draws ever closer.

She said: "On a scale of 1-10, it's a 12."

Gayle revealed how she was first approached about the mission last November and decided that it was time for a "new adventure" as she celebrated turning 70 the following month.

She said: "This was never my dream. And somebody said, 'Maybe you need to have new dreams, Gayle.' I had a big birthday, and I thought I wanted to open myself up to new adventures."

However, the 11-minute space trip has been blasted as "gluttonous" by actress Olivia Munn who argues that it is a waste of money at a time of economic uncertainty and rising food prices.

During an appearance on 'Today With Jenna and Friends', Olivia, 44, said of the commercial mission: "What are they doing?...

"I know this probably isn't the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now. What are you guys gonna do up in space? What are you doing up there?"

The star added that she doesn't understand why the mission needs to be so highly-publicised.

Olivia said: "If you wanna go to space, why do you need to tell us about it, you know? It's just like, go up there, have a good time, come on down...

"I know this is probably obnoxious, but like, it's so much money to go to space, and there's a lot of people who can't even afford eggs. "