My chat with Ross Mathews …

It’s always a fun treat to talk with Ross Mathews.

The first time we met was at MJ’s, a gay bar in Silverlake.

I was a columnist for the LA Daily News at the time so made plans to interview Ross the next week.

Since then, we’ve chatted a few more times for columns and blogs and he’s always so chipper and fun.

I saw Ross most recently at the TV Critics Winter Press Tour where E! hosted a lunch. Ross sat with out table for about 15 minutes and I peppered him with questions for a  piece I’ve just posted on Gay Star News.

But here is a quote exclusively for Greg In Hollywood readers. Ross, who got his start with Jay Leno and now appears regularly on Chelsea Lately, is about to shoot a pilot for a talk show on E! and I asked him how it felt to be on the verge of such big things:

‘I travel the country and I speak at colleges all over. In my real life, it’s me and my dog and my partner and it’s a small sort of existence. With the Chelsea show blowing up the way it has, I see it when I travel now. Some of these kids don’t even know that I was ever on Leno, these kids.The number one question I get is: ‘When are you getting your own show?’ There was a time when no one ever thought I could host a show and now the question is, ‘When are you getting it?’ So I definitely feel the time is now and I’m so freaking ready I can’t even tell you. It’s going to be good, I promise you.’