Friday night marks the second-season premiere of “Hello Ross,” hosted by the irrepressible Ross Mathews, who’s spun his fame as Jay Leno’s voluble, high-pitched “Tonight Show” intern/commentator into a weekly E! talk show airing Fridays at 10 p.m. And he gets the big names, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Leah Remini and Joe Manganiello last season — “Real Housewife” Brandi Glanville, who will be his first guest Friday night.
“We have a brand-new set. The last one was put together with a buck-and-a-half and a Band-Aid!” says (OK, shouts) Mathews. “E! has really invested in the show now because Season 1 was so successful.”
I asked Matthews which of the two late-night rituals he follows: Greeting his guests before the show or waiting until they walk out onto his set to preserve the spontaneity?
“It depends on the guest. What I really want is to create a moment with them . . . so I might dork out when I meet them for the first time. I unapologetically dork out on behalf of all the super-fans,” he says. “But if my producers tell me [a guest] is nervous, I’ll go backstage and tell them not to worry, that we’re just going to have a lot of fun.”
“Hello Ross” is executive-produced by “Chelsea Lately” host Chelsea Handler — “Her biggest advice to me was, ‘Be yourself, 100 percent,’ ” Mathews says — but self-confidence is not an issue with him.
“I was the only person who thought [a TV career] was a sure thing, a slam-dunk,” he says. “It’s about laser focus. During the early Leno years, people thought I was a gimmick, so I had to prove I had the chops to be a broadcaster, and that I had comedic chops. I never once said this was not going to happen.”