Ross Mathews (born September 24, 1979) is an American television host and personality. He first rose to fame as an intern and a correspondent for ''

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014. The fourth incarnation of the ...

''; he was known as "Ross the Intern" on air. Mathews has appeared on ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed t ...

'', '' The Insider'', ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'', and as a weekly panelist on ''

Chelsea Lately ''Chelsea Lately'' is an American Late night television, late night Television comedy, comedy talk show created by Brody Stevens and hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler which was broadcast on E! The show debuted on July 16, 2007, and was produced ...

''. He is a judge on ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'', hosts a weekly podcast with Westwood One Studios, and assists with hosting ''

The Drew Barrymore Show ''The Drew Barrymore Show'' (often shortened to ''Drew'') is a first-run syndicated American talk show hosted by actress Drew Barrymore. The show is distributed by CBS Media Ventures and debuted on September 14, 2020. In April 2022, the show w ...

''. He has been a co-host on '' Live from E!'' and correspondent on ''

The Jay Leno Show ''The Jay Leno Show'' is a talk show created and hosted by Jay Leno. Premiering on NBC on September 14, 2009, the program aired on weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ET/ PT through February 9, 2010. The program was modeled upon the format of a late ...

''.

Early life

Raised in

Mount Vernon, Washington Mount Vernon is the county seat of Skagit County, Washington, Skagit County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 35,219 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is one of two principal cities of and include ...

, Mathews graduated from Mount Vernon High SchoolMathews in and graduated from the

University of La Verne The University of La Verne (ULV) is a private university in La Verne, California. Founded in 1891, the university is composed of the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Business & Public Management, the LaFetra College of Education, College o ...

, in

La Verne, California La Verne is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 31,063 at the 2010 census, down from 31,638 at the 2000 census. History The European history of the area dates back to the 1830s when Ygnacio Palomares ...

in 2002. He majored in communications and competed in speech and debate competitions.

Career

Mathews began as an intern on ''

''. Beginning in December 2001 he covered movie premieres, the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

s, two

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were he ...

, and other events. Mathews has contributed commentary to the E! networks various ''101...'' specials, and appeared as a weekly panelist on E's late night talk show ''

''.Gilbert, Ted (May 2, 2013)
"Why Ross Mathews decided to 'Man Up!'"
.

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

. He appeared on the fifth season of VH1's reality television show, ''

''. During the course of the show, which premiered in April 2007, Mathews lost more than 40 lbs. (18 kg) and helped his team win the grand prize. He was also a guest host on '' The View'' on July 17, 2007. Mathews appeared as a celebrity mob member on seven episodes of NBC's

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

game show ''

1 vs. 100 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

'' in early 2008. In 2009, he was a contributing correspondent on '' The Insider'', and hosted a web show on ''The Insider'' called ''Inside Dish With Ross Mathews''; he took viewers behind the scenes as an "outsider" in Hollywood. ''Inside Dish'' became the official online web-shows for CBS's '' Big Brother'' and ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

''. Also in 2009, he co-hosted GSN's ''Big Saturday Night'', a weekly game show. His other 2009 appearances included ''

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

'' and the 2009 Game Show Awards with Diane. Mathews joined the panel of judges for RuPaul’s drag race with occasional appearances in the earlier seasons and more frequent appearances beginning in Season 7. In 2010, Mathews joined the E! Network's red carpet team, filling in for

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...

as co-host with

Giuliana Rancic Giuliana Rancic (; ; born August 17, 1974) is an Italian-American entertainment reporter and television personality. She is a co-anchor of ''E! News'' and resides in Chicago and Los Angeles. Early life Rancic was born in Naples, Italy and immigra ...

for E! Live From the Red Carpet coverage of the 2011

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

Awards, the 2010 Emmy Awards, the 2011

Golden Globe Awards The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, and the 2011 Academy Awards. In January 2011, Mathews starred in a pilot that he produced and co-wrote with fellow ''Chelsea Lately'' round table regular

Heather McDonald Heather Ann McDonald (born June 14, 1970) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and author. Born and educated in Southern California, she is known for her appearances on the E! series ''Chelsea Lately''. She was one of the eight writers on t ...

. Titled ''Love or Hate'', the pilot was made for the E! Network and was executive produced by

Chelsea Handler Chelsea Joy Handler (born February 25, 1975) is an American comedian, actress, writer, television host, and producer. She hosted the late-night talk show ''Chelsea Lately'' on the E! network from 2007 to 2014 and released a documentary series, ...

and her company Borderline Amazing Productions. He also appeared in the E! Network's ''After Lately'', a show about the behind the scenes of ''Chelsea Lately''. By September 2011, Mathews had left ''The Tonight Show'' returning for guest appearances including the "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" skit on December 14, 2011. Mathews appeared in the fourth episode of the

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

series '' Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis'' in 2012, in which Lewis redesigned his and his boyfriend's garage. Ross Mathews 2013

On May 7, 2013, Mathews released his book ''Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence''. He was the host of '' Hello Ross'', an interactive talk show on E! from September 6, 2013, until May 16, 2014. In 2015, he and

Carson Kressley Carson Kressley (born November 11, 1969) is an American television personality, actor, and designer. Beginning in 2003, he appeared in the Bravo series ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. He was also the motivational host of the TV show ''How to ...

were named as new regular judges for the 7th season of ''

''. At the end of 2015, Mathews began filling in as a guest host on ''

Hollywood Today Live ''Hollywood Today Live'' is a daily syndicated entertainment news program distributed by Media General stations along with Fox Television Stations under a traditional syndication arrangement, and was produced by Media General's Bitesize division ...

'', which is syndicated on Fox. He became a permanent host on January 4, 2016. He also had a lead role in the movie ''Pup Star''. The sequel, ''Pup Star: Better 2Gether'', premiered the following year. He guest-starred as himself in an episode of ''

Mike Tyson Mysteries ''Mike Tyson Mysteries'' is an American adult animated television series, and is the first collaboration between Warner Bros. Animation and Williams Street. It premiered October 27, 2014 on Adult Swim. The series features Mike Tyson solving myster ...

'' titled "Unsolved Situations" in 2016. In 2017, he was the commentator of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2017 The Eurovision Song Contest 2017 was the 62nd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Kyiv, Ukraine, following the country's victory at the with the song "1944 (song), 1944" by Jamala. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

together with

Michelle Visage Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction which ...

live for

Logo TV Logo TV (often shortened to Logo, and stylized as Logo.) is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global. Launched in 2005, Logo was originally dedicated to lifestyle and entertainment progra ...

. He also commented alongside

Shangela Chantize Darius Jeremy Pierce, better known as Shangela Laquifa Wadley or mononymously as Shangela (born November 22, 1980), is an American drag queen, reality television personality and actor best known for competing on ''RuPaul's Drag Race''. S ...

on the Logo TV broadcast of the

Eurovision Song Contest 2018 The Eurovision Song Contest 2018 was the 63rd edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Lisbon, Portugal, following the country's victory at the with the song " Amar pelos dois" by Salvador Sobral. Organised by the European Broa ...

final. In 2018, Mathews was announced as one of the eleven houseguests competing on the first American edition of ''

''. He finished in 2nd place, winning $50,000, and was voted as America's Favorite Houseguest earning an additional prize of $25,000. He appeared in the second season as part of a Head of Household competition. On November 28, 2019, Mathews was a field reporter for Verizon 360 at the 93rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since fall 2020, he has appeared on the "Drews News" segment of the Drew Barrymore show and has been hosting his own podcast, ''Straight Talk with Ross Mathews''. In 2021, he appeared as a panelist on the comedy series, '' Adorableness'' on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Personal life

Mathews is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

. From 2008 to 2018, he had a relationship with stylist Salvador Camarena. In 2013, the couple appeared in an episode of ''

House Hunters ''House Hunters'' is an American unscripted television series that airs on HGTV and is produced by Pie Town Productions. Each episode follows people making a decision about a new home purchase or rental. Format ''House Hunters'' follows indiv ...

'' while shopping for a home in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land ...

. On February 23, 2021, Mathews announced his engagement to Dr. Wellinthon García, a

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

educational administrator. On May 7, 2022, Mathews and García married at a ceremony in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Filmography

Film

* ''

The Bitch Who Stole Christmas ''The Bitch Who Stole Christmas'' is a 2021 Christmas comedy film featuring RuPaul and twenty ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' contestants, among other celebrities. The film, which aired on VH1 on December 2, 2021, is produced by MTV Entertainment Studio ...

'' (2021)

Television

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

Official website
*
Inside Dish w/ Ross Mathews
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathews, Ross 1979 births Living people American bloggers 21st-century American memoirists American reporters and correspondents American gay writers LGBT broadcasters from the United States American LGBT entertainers LGBT people from Washington (state) Participants in American reality television series People from Mount Vernon, Washington University of La Verne alumni Writers from Washington (state) Gay comedians The Tonight Show with Jay Leno American male bloggers Judges in American reality television series