Ross Mathews is absolutely giddy about having his own talk show
and going from being a “superfan” of celebrities to becoming one
himself.
The 33-year-old openly gay Mathews recently told his boss Chelsea
Handler – who is executive producing Hello Ross – that his
show is the opposite of her Chelsea Lately.
“When I'm on your show and, like, you guys are all so horrible,
and I'm over here – no, I mean it's fun to like pick on people and
stuff. And I love pop culture, so I'm always in the corner being
like, 'But I like Jessica Simpson at any size.' And so, my show is
about for people who love it. Like I love it, you love it, let's
talk it out. That's what Hello Ross is all about,” he
said.
Mathews, who started out as “Ross the Intern” on The
Tonight Show, told
the AP that Hello Ross, which premiered last Friday on
cabler E!, “is the show that I always wish existed as a superfan
myself.”
He added that some people in Mount Vernon, Washington, the small
town where he grew up, disagreed with his decision to pursue a career
in show business.
“Growing up, you know, wanting to do this and being what I am,
which is like this cartoon version of like a gay person with a big
voice and a high pitch, there were a lot of people who told me, 'It's
probably not gonna happen for you. Broadcasting? It's probably not
the way you should go.' (Laughter.) I'm lucky. My parents and my
family were like, 'Whatever you want to do, go do it.' To be honest,
I'm not really good at anything else (laughter) so there was kind of
no other option. What was I gonna do? Be a cop? There was like
this laser focus to get here,” Mathews said.