‘Ross the Intern’ comes into his own with a recent book & new talk show
Ross Mathews is talking from his own office in Hollywood and he can’t even believe it.
“It’s the dream,” he says, bubbling over with joy. “I’m getting to do exactly what I’ve always wanted to do.”
That dream began back in 2001 when the pop-culture fanatic landed a behind-the-scenes job on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the host’s buoyant intern. It wasn’t long before Mathews was on camera, and not long after that when Chelsea Handler took him under her wing and he became the comedian’s resident gay. Now, she’s letting him fly solo: Last week, Mathews launched his very own show, Hello Ross, with Handler co-producing, on E!
In our recent chat, Mathews talks about his new over-the-top-gay show, why he learned to embrace his high-pitched voice and the trick to keeping it together when meeting Madonna.
— Chris Azzopardi
Dallas Voice: Your story is of a farm town kid who didn’t fit in and who was bullied but is now the star of his own show. Do you hope to inspire gay kids going through what you went through? Ross Mathews: When I was growing up, I remember thinking, “What is my life gonna be like?” I didn’t know what it meant to be a successful, happy, grown-up gay person because I didn’t see that. I didn’t see that in my small town. I didn’t see that represented on television. Even when I started on television in 2001, it was really at the beginning, before Queer Eye and Will & Grace, before Ellen was out, before Rosie was out; it really wasn’t represented anywhere. I started appearing on national television as people like Rosie and Neil Patrick Harris came out and shows like those became relevant, and I was part of something.
From this point forward, whenever kids are realizing they’re gay, they know what it means to be a happy, successful, openly and unapologetically grown-up gay person, and what that looks like and what life can be for them. And I hope people can see me on Chelsea Lately and see me on my show and say, “Hey, look, he’s got a partner and a family and a dog and friends, and he never apologized for who he is and neither will I.”
Are you the modern-day Ellen or Rosie? OK, now that freaks me out! I have a lot more to achieve to reach anything like that, but I will gladly fulfill that role for whomever needs it. I feel like I have a big ol’ wagon; everybody hop on it and let’s do this together.
Who’s the tougher boss: Jay Leno or Chelsea Handler? Well, I would never categorize either one of them as tough on me. They’ve both given me incredible platforms, which is very rare for comics to do. I take it very seriously when they do that, because they don’t do it lightly, and I know if they give me that opportunity, I gotta show up and be on point. That’s how you get the next opportunity. That’s how this town works. You get a shot, you deliver and you get another one.
And now your own office. I know, isn’t that nuts? And Chelsea is upstairs. There’ve been two pivots in my career: one was meeting Jay Leno and the other was meeting Chelsea Handler, and both of them have been so instrumental and crucial and supportive and inspiring and have served as the most amazing mentors anybody in this town could ever have. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve them, but I will spend the rest of my life thanking them.
Don’t forget Mark-Paul Gosselaar, who you interviewed recently when you guest hosted Chelsea Lately. When I guest hosted and I said, “Please welcome Mark-Paul Gosselaar,” and he walked around the corner, it was like I needed a time machine to go back to myself at 12 years old in my bedroom and be like, “Oh my God, guess what he just said?” It was the most surreal thing in the world. I had fantasized about him as a young kid watching Saved by the Bell, and he said he heard [me on Howard Stern] and told his wife, “Ross Mathews masturbated to me!” It really was like my head was going to explode.
Tell us about the “interactive” element of your show. It’s a big party. This show is what I wish existed when I was a little kid, when I could reach out and be a part of pop culture. The audience is joining the conversation, and I’ll literally be in the audience with a microphone asking people’s opinions. When I have a guest, the people in the audience can ask the guest questions. We’re Skype-ing people in from all over the country so they can ask questions as well.
There’s never been a show like this on TV then? No, there hasn’t. I looked at all these shows that sort of talk about pop culture and the majority of them, if not all, were kind of saying, “Isn’t she a dumb bitch?” “Isn’t that stupid?” “He’s so lame.” There wasn’t a show that was doing what I’m doing, which is saying, “I love this stuff, you guys love it, let’s talk it out.”
How gay and fabulous is your set? Oh my God, it’s pretty great. It’s a little Palm Spring chic-y, but very comfortable. We’re trying to mix the two things. And it’s all a little elevated because I am super-gay, so it has to be; people would be disappointed if it wasn’t.
How did you decide on calling it Hello Ross? There was a lot of debate from a lot of people about the name, but there was never a debate on my end. To me, it was always Hello Ross. That’s my Twitter, that’s my website, that’s the spirit of the show.
What have you learned from Chelsea to apply to your show? That there’s a power in saying “I am what I am.” Never second-guessing that thing that only you own and only you know, which is your point of view and your perception of things and your truth. I know that sounds really hippy-dippy, but if you look at her, how many times do you think she’s probably heard, “You can’t say that”? And I’ve heard, “You can’t be that gay, you can’t be that high-pitched, you’ll never host a show with that voice.” But what I’ve learned from her is to use what makes you different to stand out. I could’ve come to this town and taken hosting classes and done this and that and tried to lower my voice, but I would’ve looked like every other rock on the beach. The ones that work are those weird-looking rocks. Those are the ones you notice.
When did you start to really love and embrace your voice? There was a point in my teenhood when I realized that the voice wasn’t changing. I was this gay cartoon of a person and it was a crossroad for me: I could either hate myself or I could love myself, and it’s just not in my nature to hate, so I said, “Fine, I accept myself fully. Go 100 percent. Be you. Do you.”
You mention your Madonna encounter in your book. What’s the trick to keeping it together when meeting her? Clench your legs. Don’t, like, lose it. And if you’re a huge fan, perhaps bring a diaper, because I have to tell you, that was surreal. All I was thinking was, “Don’t say something that makes her kick you out.”
I’ve shot pieces at zoos with animal keepers where they hand you a snake and you think, “This is exotic, this could bite me and this could kill me at any second.” It felt the same way when I met Madonna.
There’s talk of a follow-up book. Where might you take the second one? The first book was about this person who loves pop culture and got plopped in the middle of it and tried to paddle and survive. I wanted to sort of establish who I was growing up, how I got plopped in pop culture and why that was such a big deal. The next book is about what happens now. You achieved this dream; what’s it like? I have a partner, we’re starting a family, I’m trying to see the world and travel. Every day I live this crazy life and I think to myself, “You’ve gotta write this down.” I mean, the fact that I’m sitting where I’m sitting and I walk by celebrities every day on this lot and amazing things happen, and I go to these celebrity houses and I just can’t believe it. I am this superfan, but I get to be on the inside. I think that’s a story people want to hear.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition September 13, 2013.