(As a young kid growing up in a farm town, Ross Mathews mi...)
As a young kid growing up in a farm town, Ross Mathews might as well have wished for a pet unicorn or a calorie-free cookie tree to grow in his front yard. Either of those far-fetched fantasies would have been more likely to come true than his real dream: working in television in Hollywood, California. Seriously, that stuff just doesn't happen to people like Ross. But guess what. It totally did. Now, with his first book, Ross takes us inside his journey as a super-fan, revealing the most embarrassing and hilarious moments of his small-town life and big-city adventures.
Name Drop: The Really Good Celebrity Stories I Usually Only Tell at Happy Hour
(Television personality Ross Mathews likes telling stories...)
Television personality Ross Mathews likes telling stories. He was always outrageous and hilariously honest, even when the biggest celebrity he knew was his favorite lunch lady in the school cafeteria. Now that he has Hollywood experience - from interning behind the scenes at The Tonight Show with Jay Leno to judging RuPaul’s Drag Race - he has a lot to talk about. In Name Drop, Ross dishes about being an unlikely insider in the alternate reality that is showbiz, like that time he was invited by Barbara Walters to host The View - only to learn his hero did not suffer fools; his Christmas with the Kardashians, which should be its own holiday special; and his news-making talk with Omarosa on Celebrity Big Brother, which, as it turns out, was just the tip of the iceberg. Holding nothing back, Ross shares the most treasured and surprising moments in his celebrity-filled career and proves that while exposure may have made him a little bit famous, he is still as much a fanboy as ever.
Ross Mathews is an American television personality, actor, and author of books. He is particularly known for shows Hello Ross, Celebrity Big Brother, RuPaul's Drag Race, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He is the author of two popular books Name Drop: The Really Good Celebrity Stories I Usually Only Tell at Happy Hour and Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence.
Background
Ross Mathews was born on September 24, 1979, in Mount Vernon, Washington, United States. He has a brother. He grew up with the love of glitz and glam of Hollywood. As a child, he knew he wanted to be a TV host.
Mathews has a close relationship with his mother. In fact, she was the one who inspired him to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. When he was eight years old, he was watching television with his mother. The show was Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee and they were having several celebrities as guests. Mathews noticed how happy it made his mother and he told her that when he grew up, he wanted to be a talk show host as well.
Education
Ross Mathews appeared in several school plays during his school days. Then he studied at the University of La Verne from which he graduated in 2002 with a degree in communications. At the university, he participated in speech and debate competitions.
Ross Mathews became TV personality not immediately. His first job was picking spinach. But he always wanted to be a TV host, and he got his chance when he applied for the No. 1 rated late-night talk show in the nation and was hired. The unpaid position was like any internship: copies, faxes, coffee. But on his last day, the show’s head writer told Mathews they believed he had what it took for TV and sent him with George Clooney to the premiere of Ocean’s Eleven, where he interviewed celebrities on the red carpet. He was such a hit that soon producers asked him to cover another premiere, then the 2002 Winter Olympics, and his career took off. For nine years, Mathews traveled the world as a Tonight Show correspondent interviewing everyone from Oscar winners to royalty.
Mathews has been associated with E! Network for the most part of his career. He has appeared on various specials and served on the weekly panel on E!’s late-night talk show Chelsea Lately. During his appearance on the fifth season of VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, he lost over 40 lbs of his weight. He played a pivotal role in his team’s eventual victory of the grand prize. In early 2008, he was featured on seven episodes of NBC's prime time game show 1 vs. 100 as a celebrity mob member. Between 2007 and 2014, he appeared on ABC’s The View as the co-host six times. In 2009, he became a contributing correspondent on CBS’ The Insider and later earned the opportunity to host Inside Dish with Ross Mathews, a web show associated with The Insider. Subsequently, the show became the official web show for other top CBS reality shows, including Big Brother and The Amazing Race.
In 2010, Mathews replaced Ryan Seacrest on the E! Network's red carpet team and covered the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards, the 2010 Emmy Awards, the 2011 Golden Globe Awards, and the 2011 Academy Awards. In 2012, he first appeared on Logo TV’s reality competition television series RuPaul's Drag Race as a guest judge. On September 6, 2013, Mathews’ new show Hello Ross premiered on E!. Besides hosting the late-night talk show, he also served as one of the executive producers. E! canceled it after airing two seasons in 2014. Since 2015, he has been a regular judge on the show and its spin-off, RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. In 2018, Mathews competed in the inaugural edition of Celebrity Big Brother. He finished the show at the second place after Broadway actress Marissa Jaret Winokur who was the eventual winner of the season.
As an actor, Mathews portrayed characters named Chris in the popular daily soap Days of Our Lives (2004-2011) and MC in the telefilm ‘Call Me Crazy: A Five Film’ (2013). He appeared in Pup Star, and in an episode of Mike Tyson Mysteries titled Unsolved Situations. He is also known as a bestseller author of the book Man Up!: Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence published in 2013. In this memoir, he takes readers through his journey from super-fan to television commentator. His most recent book is Name Drop: The Really Good Celebrity Stories I Usually Only Tell at Happy Hour (2020), a collection of hilarious and irreverent essays about his experience with Hollywood’s most talked-about celebrities.
Ross Mathews is one of the most in-demand television personalities hosts and pop culture experts in entertainment today, as well as a bestselling author. His book Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence was nominated for Goodreads Choice Award and received very positive reviews from publishers, journals, and readers.
As a strong supporter of the Human Rights Campaign, speaking at many of their nationwide events, he received the Human Rights Campaign Visibility Award in 2011.
(Television personality Ross Mathews likes telling stories...)
2020
Views
Ross Mathews' life's motto is "Pivot. Always be ready to pivot."
Quotations:
"Not to be too preachy, but I would really recommend to people, if you get the chance, to trust yourselves to leap without a net, because that will build the confidence. You know, you might shock yourself with how much you don't need a net because you can catch yourself."
"Love yourself, whatever makes you different, and use it to make you stand out. Mine is my voice and the fact that I'm gay: well, the fact that I'm flamboyantly gay."
"People should never apologize for who they are, and they should never hide who they are."
"If you want to succeed at any job, make yourself invaluable. Go the extra mile; make them never be able to imagine what life without you there would be like."
"There are so many funny people and so many talented people, but the one thing nobody else has is my take on the world."
"I take a lot of pride in managing to be funny without having a victim at the end of my joke. I laugh at a really dark joke as much as the next person, but my jokes, I feel, don't have to hurt anybody to be really funny."
"I'd love to host a game show one day. I love giving things away."
"If you haven't seen me lasso, you haven't lived."
"My voice is so high-pitched, only gay dogs can hear it."
Personality
Ross Mathews is openly gay. Three adjectives that describe his are upbeat, kind-hearted, and competitive.
Physical Characteristics:
His height is 5'10" (178 cm).
Quotes from others about the person
"Ross is one of my favorite people in the whole wide world! He's so lovely, funny, and smart." - RuPaul
Interests
morning walks
Connections
Ross Mathews was in a relationship with stylist Salvador Camarena from 2008 to 2018. After the break-up, Ross moved into another relationship and started dating Ryan Fogarty, the former assistant for the singer LeAnn Rimes' tour production.
