Ohio bakery workers recount surprise JD Vance encounter that took an unexpected turn

When Vice President JD Vance stopped in at his hometown donut shop last Friday, the last thing Crystaliz Portalatin expected was for him to invite her to his upcoming rally.

But before she knew it, Portalatin and two of her fellow Central Pastry Shop employees were piling into a car in Vance’s motorcade to watch him speak at the nearby steel mill in Middletown, Ohio .

"We knew he was going to come into Middletown, so we assumed he was going to stop by the shop," Portalatin, 28, told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday.

"That morning, I was praying and I was like, 'You know, it'd be nice for him to stop by, we can take a picture and talk to him.'" Vance did indeed visit, first greeting the shop's owner, Vera Slamka, who made a joke about him "losing too much weight" since the last time they saw each other.

The vice president laughed before ordering an "ugly," the shop's signature misshapen glazed donut.

He called them "the best donuts in the world." VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE OPENS UP ABOUT HIS CATHOLIC FAITH AND RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD: 'I FELT AT HOME' After Vance took pictures with Slamka and the rest of the staff, Portalatin recalled making an offhand comment about wanting to see the vice president's speech.

"It was a comment that I made when he was talking to Vera.

I just said, 'I would like to see the speech.' And he just said, 'Do you want to come?' That came from him," Portalatin said.

Portalatin, along with her coworkers Ursula Bush and Jennifer Coby, accepted the offer and got to ride in a car with one of Vance's staffers.

"We were just like laughing and were taking videos," Portalatin said.

"It was very fun.

We were just really enjoying.

And I think the people that were there with us were also enjoying us and our reaction." CNN PANEL SWOONS OVER JD VANCE'S GLOW-UP, ADMITS MEDIA BLITZ IS 'IMPRESSIVE' FOLLOWING 'THE VIEW' APPEARANCE After an eight-minute ride, the starstruck trio were led into the Cleveland-Cliffs steel mill and were seated immediately to left of the stage Vance spoke from .

His speech focused on the new $500 million federal grant for the facility, which Vance's grandfather worked at as a welder decades earlier.