Ross “The Intern” Mathews

S #1 Crush! HHandsome,andsome, humblehumble RRossoss ““TheThe IIntern”ntern” MMathewsathews iiss tthehe bboyoy nnextext ddooroor mmadeade ggoodood by Jonathan Riggs photos by Peter Brown ex sells. And scandal? You bet your Lohan. But sweet? Nah. S Sincere? No way! See, there’s always an exception. And sometimes, it’s the small-town boy with the September 24th birthday sitting right in front of you. In person, Ross Mathews is cute, (newly) in shape and a charmingly funny/quirky/single young gay man. But where’s the dirt, kid? “Listen,” Ross says, leaning over his desk at NBC. “My life is so boring when I’m not at work. I have a dog and I walk her.” He looks at the giant framed photo of his beloved rescue pooch, Louise, sitting on his desk. “I have a few close friends, and we get dinner occasionally, but usually it’s me and my dog,” he says. “Wouldn’t it be a way juicier article if I was, like, club-hopping? That’s what the kids call it, right? “Well,” he laughs. “I’d better totally stop wearing underwear.” A NNEWEW EEXPERIENCEXPERIENCE Today, Mr. Mathews is scared. Now lest you get the wrong idea, Ross is a pretty brave guy. He’s jumped out of a plane on The Tonight Show, shared the View table with Barbara, Joy and Elisabeth and allowed America to watch him shed more than 41 pounds on Celebrity Fit Club. (Plus, he’s eaten dessert at the same table as Perez Hilton and lived…without fork wounds to the eye.) But today’s adventure is something he’s never done before. “Hello, everybody,” he says in one of his Talky Blog videos. “I’m panicking! Because I’m running so late for a photo shoot…and it’s a big deal and it’s kind of fun. I have to get all dressed up, and it’s in the Hollywood Hills.” Ross’ eyes get wide with excitement and he pulls the camera in close. “Can you believe that?” he whispers. “I’m so “Nobody does!” Ross laughs. “I was just me in Chicas Picantes were actually his fi rst concert, nervous about it and have, like, anxiety tummy.” a small town, which wasn’t the easiest thing, but I and after buying a brand-new outfi t to wear to ! He grins, his eyes sparkling. didn’t know any other way to be.” see SpiceWorld, he heard the horrible news: the h “Seriously,” he says, as if he can’t believe it He sold berries by the side of the road, watched unbreakable Spice bond was, well, broken by s himself, “when did my life go from working hours of ice skating and was a total theater kid in Ginger. u at McDonald’s to having a photo shoot in the high school, winning Thespian of the Year, 1998 “She was my favorite, and then the bitch dropped Hollywood Hills? That’s ridiculous!” and double state champion in individual events out of the band!” he says. “I was devastated!” r in forensics. He even went to the senior prom as a He graduated college with a degree in C OONCENCE UUPONPON A TTIME…IME… freshman with the most popular girl in school. communications and moved to Los Angeles, where “My popularity was done by the end of the he landed an internship at The Tonight Show. Every good story has to have the right evening,” he laughs. “But for one night, I was “I just felt it in my soul that this was the beginning, and Ross’ is no exception. He grew totally it: capital I-T.” start,” he says. “Meanwhile, I was cleaning out up with a supportive family in a small town He worked at Lane Bryant in the mall, did his coffee machines, so nobody else saw this as the in Washington state called Mt. Vernon, which friends’ makeup with a burnt cork and stayed beginning of anything big.” exports more tulips than all of Holland. Did you after school in the debate room so he wouldn’t On his last day, the person who was supposed to know that? miss the Spice Girls appearing on Oprah. Las cover the Ocean’s Eleven premiere dropped k SSPETEMBERPETEMBER 0077 INSTINCT | 51 out. Since he was known around the offi ce for his single mother in a downtown Los Angeles clever jokes, Ross stepped in and pulled it off. pipe. Luckily, all four dogs were rescued and He’s been a regular on The Tonight Show adopted out. ever since, doing everything from presenting “I got Louise shortly after my father died. I at the Country Music Television awards (“in a had been away from home since I was 18,” Ross bedazzled outfi t”) to co-hosting and producing says, “so I was used to being alone, but I felt even a behind-the-scenes webshow (The John And more so after he died. So having Louise in my Ross Show) and writing a weekly blog (nbc.com/ life, taking care of her and having love in my face rossblog). every day was the best possible medicine.” “We’re almost up to a million hits a month Caring for Louise has caused Ross to develop now,” he says. “It started as nothing, but just parental feelings of his own. LLouise!ouise! by doing it every day and being very diligent, “When she whines, I lactate,” he giggles. “I’m I’ve turned it into something, which I’m so that into her.” proud of.” RROSS-ERCISEOSS-ERCISE SSPEAKING PEAKING OOFF PPROUD…ROUD… LIFE AT HOME It wasn’t until Celebrity Fit Club that our You can’t write a Ross story without mentioning man Mathews felt the heat of a higher wattage Ross’s family has always been supportive of Louise. His “paw-fect dog-ter” appears in almost spotlight…and the interest in his personal life him, and he and his mother are very close. They all of his Talky Blogs and his offi ce is plastered that comes with it. talk up to eight times a day and just got back with photos of her. (Oh, and if you want to sit “People ask me a lot, ‘Was it scary to let the from taking a Rosie cruise together. down, you have to move her stuffed Grinch toy.) nation know how much you weighed?’” Ross “I had never been on a cruise before, and when “I always had a dream of having a small dog,” says. “I had been fat my entire life, and I have a I got on, there was a karaoke bar called Dazzles,” Ross says. “My dad was a hunter, so we always had soft spot for people in that situation. It’s no secret he laughs. “Hello? Dazzles! I’m like, ‘There’s my big, big, big dogs, but I had never experienced the when you’re a big person, so no, I had no issue next week!’ I have the voice of an angel.” He love of a little belly falling asleep in your arms, getting on that scale.” pauses, then winks. “A little bit.” and I always wanted that.” Nudged to do the show by Rosie O’Donnell Although Ross and Rosie’s eat-your-heart- Sadly, Louise was unavailable for an interview (“She e-mailed me and said, ‘Go learn how to out-Elton John-and-George Michael duet of (she was getting her hair done), but she has a take care of your body. I’m 44 and I still don’t “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” hasn’t hit dramatic life story, pre-Ross: The pup and her know how.’), Ross was surprised by how much YouTube yet, it defi nitely left an impression. two brothers were raised by their homeless, people responded to him. “It was a moment,” he says. “So much so that “As I started losing the I would get up every day after and say, ‘Hey weight and being really everybody, thanks for coming to Dazzles tonight!’ honest about how diffi cult like I was hosting it.” it was on the blog, I got Guess what? Now he’s the offi cial karaoke host thousands of e-mails from for all the Rosie cruises. people who were inspired Sharing all of his success with his mom has by what I did—that came made his journey even more special. When as a complete shock-a-roo Ross was a guest host on The View, his mother for me,” he says. “It inspired took her fi rst trip east of Idaho to sit in the me to keep going, and it’s front row of the audience. After a little jab kept me accountable after from Joy Behar about Ross supposedly losing the show ended.” his testosterone along with his weight (to One wall of his offi ce which he quipped, “I never had any!”), Mama is completely covered in Mathews got the last word. letters just like those, and he “He’s the son you always wanted, right?” looks over at them all. Barbara Walters asked. “It was so unexpected,” he She answered immediately: “Yes.” says. “That me going to the gym or me eating healthy RROSIEOSIE OOH!H! would tell someone in the Midwest they could do it.” Rosie O’Donnell’s name has popped up several Later, on his blog, he times already, and for good reason. She’s Ross’ summed up his thoughts. hero and inspiration. “I went into the experience “Growing up, I connected with her, not even hoping for a lifestyle change,” knowing why,” he says.

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