Ross Mathews
Ross Mathews (born September 24, 1979)[1] is an American television host and personality. He rose to fame as "Ross the Intern" as a correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Mathews has appeared on Chelsea Lately, Celebrity Fit Club, The Insider, Celebrity Big Brother as well as his own talk show Hello Ross. Ross is currently an executive producer and judge on RuPaul's Drag Race and co-hosts The Drew Barrymore Show with Drew Barrymore.
Early life
[edit | edit source]Raised in Mount Vernon, Washington,[2] Mathews graduated from Mount Vernon High School[3] and graduated from the University of La Verne, in La Verne, California, in 2002. He majored in communications[4] and competed in speech and debate competitions.[5]
Career
[edit | edit source]Mathews began as an intern on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in December 2001, he covered movie premieres, the Academy Awards, two Winter Olympic Games, and other events.[6]
Mathews has contributed commentary to the E! networks various 101... specials, and appeared as a weekly panelist on E's late night talk show Chelsea Lately.[7] He appeared on the fifth season of VH1's reality television show, Celebrity Fit Club. 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.[8] He was also a guest host on The View on July 17, 2007.[9] Mathews joined the E! Network's red carpet team, filling in for Ryan Seacrest as co-host with Giuliana Rancic for E! Live From the Red Carpet coverage of the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Awards, the 2010 Emmy Awards, the 2011 Golden Globe Awards, and the 2011 Academy Awards. He hosted Hello Ross, an interactive talk show on E! from September 6, 2013, until May 16, 2014.[10]
Mathews joined the panel of judges for RuPaul’s Drag Race beginning in 2015 for Season 7. Since 2022, he has served as an executive producer for the show and won an Emmy in 2023 for Outstanding Reality Competition Program.
Ross has written three books. On May 7, 2013, Mathews released his book Man Up! Tales of My Delusional Self-Confidence.[7] On February 4, 2020 he released Name Drop: The Really Good Celebrity Stories I Usually Only Tell at Happy Hour. In 2025 he released Tío and Tío: The Ring Bearers, co-written with his husband Dr. Wellinthon García-Mathews.
In 2018, Mathews was announced as one of the eleven houseguests competing on the first American edition of Celebrity Big Brother. He finished in 2nd place, winning $50,000, and was voted as America's Favorite Houseguest earning an additional prize of $25,000.[11] He appeared in the second season as part of a Head of Household competition.
Since fall 2020, he has appeared as a co-host on The Drew Barrymore Show.
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Mathews is openly gay.[12][13] From 2008 to 2018, he had a relationship with stylist Salvador Camarena.[14][15][16]
On February 23, 2021, Mathews announced his engagement to Wellinthon García, a Long Island educational administrator.[17][18] On May 7, 2022, Mathews and García married at a ceremony in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.[19]
Filmography
[edit | edit source]Film
[edit | edit source]Television
[edit | edit source]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–2013 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno | Himself | Correspondent (62 episodes) |
| 2007 | Celebrity Fit Club | Contestant | Season 5 (8 episodes) |
| 2008–2011 | Days of Our Lives | Chris | |
| 2012 | Interior Therapy with Jeff Lewis | Himself | Guest (1 episode) |
| RuPaul's Drag Race | Himself | Guest Judge (1 episode) | |
| 2015–present | Main Judge | Season 7–present | |
| 2012–2016 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars | Himself | Guest Judge (4 episodes) |
| 2018–present | Main Judge | Season 3–present | |
| 2018 | Miss America 2019 | Co-host | |
| 2018 | Celebrity Big Brother | Contestant | Season 1, Runner-up (13 episodes) |
| 2019 | Guest | Season 2 (1 episode) | |
| 2020–present | The Drew Barrymore Show | Himself | "Drew's News" |
| 2021 | Adorableness | Co-host | Season 1 |
| 2023 | And Just Like That... | Himself | Episode: "February 14th" |
| 2024 | RuPaul's Drag Race Global All Stars | Guest Judge | Episode: "Everybody Say Love Girl Groups" |
Bibliography
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Awards and nominations
[edit | edit source]Emmy Awards
[edit | edit source]| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program | 93rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade | Nominated | |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Reality Competition Program | RuPaul's Drag Race (as producer) | Won | [20] |
| 2024 | Nominated | ||||
| 2025 | Nominated |
Producers Guild of America Awards
[edit | edit source]| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television | RuPaul's Drag Race | Won | |
| 2023 | RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars | Nominated | ||
| 2024 | RuPaul's Drag Race | Won | ||
| 2025 | Nominated |
Miscellaneous awards and honors
[edit | edit source]| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | People's Choice Award | Favorite New Talk Show Host | Hello Ross | Nominated | |
| 2018 | GLAAD Media Award | Davidson/Valentini Award | Himself | Honored |
References
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- ^ Tracy E. Gilchrist (June 10, 2008). "This Gay Week in Television: Bea Arthur, Courteney Cox" Archived June 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Gay Wired. "Lest we forget that Jay helped launch the adorable gay intern Ross Mathews' career."
- ^ a b Gilbert, Ted (May 2, 2013). "Why Ross Mathews decided to 'Man Up!'" Archived July 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. CNN.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Peeples, Jase (April 24, 2013). "Ross Mathews to Host New 'Interactive' Talk Show" Archived October 5, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. The Advocate.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Celebrity Slimdowns: Losing the Weight. E!. January 2, 2012
- ^ Deeken, Aimee (August 17, 2010). They both announced their break up on Instagram on November 25, 2018."'Chelsea Lately': Ross Mathews Wants a 'Gayby' Like Neil Patrick Harris (VIDEO)" Archived November 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. The Huffington Post.
- ^ Jung, Helin (November 29, 2011). "Ross Mathews's Soft Spot: His 'Mutty-Mutt' Dogs" Archived February 15, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. People.
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). "... the smartest, funniest and kindest man I've ever met said, 'Yes!' Dr. García, I love you."
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External links
[edit | edit source]
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- 1979 births
- 21st-century American memoirists
- American gay writers
- American LGBTQ broadcasters
- American gay comedians
- American male comedians
- American male bloggers
- American bloggers
- American reporters and correspondents
- Comedians from Washington (state)
- GLAAD Media Awards winners
- Judges in American reality television series
- LGBTQ people from Washington (state)
- LGBTQ bloggers
- Living people
- Participants in American reality television series
- People from Mount Vernon, Washington
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- University of La Verne alumni
- Writers from Washington (state)