Get Out! GAY Magazine – Issue 516

INTERVIEW
Michael Cook: There is a
very simple trait of yours that
both myself and so many
other people that are such a
massive fan of yours notice
about you and every project
you dive into, including your
tour “I Gotchu Girl!”. Simply,
you’re still a fan at heart as
well and are so inherently
thankful for the opportunities
that have come your way.
Ross Matthews: Oh a super
fan. And such gratitude.
Because you have to
remember, when I started
on television back in 2001,
there were not people like
me on television, especially
unapologetic people who
refused to be the butt of the
joke because there was no
other choice. I am so grateful
that my gratitude comes across
on the screen because it is
absolutely one hundred percent
real.
MC: How do you stay so
grounded? So many people
reach levels of success and
the fame turns them into a
completely different person.
RM: It’s not in my my nature.
I was raised by my mom and
my dad who are just good
kind people. I grew up in a
small town and I also think that
most artists have almost an
insecurity where they feel that
it could all go away. I think you
mix small town, good values,
and insecurity together and it
makes this perfect gratitude
pie; that is sort of what I have
going on. There are days when
I am tired and where I do too
much, but I just every day, go
to gratitude.
MC: You are coming to
NJPAC on June 25th with
your stand up show I
Gotchu, Girl! How do you
narrow down the stories you
are going to tell from such a
storied career?
RM: That’s a great question. I
have gone on tour with both of
my past books and they were
their own thing. This tour is
It is about getting back together
with everybody, knowing what
I know and what we all know
after those rough few years
of solitude and missing each
other. There is a lot of my
gratitude about being out of
the house infused in the show.
Also, what I really found out
during that time is how much
we need our friends and our
family and my husband so
there is a lot about that. Really,
it’s about life through my POV,
my lens, life through Ross
colored glasses; it’s what I
wanted to say. Mostly though,
its about making people laugh.
I’m telling you, it is feeding my
soul going across the country. It
sounds so cheese-fest I know,
but when I go in these rooms
and I can shift the energy of
the people in there…bring
them this way, bring them that
way, make them think that I am
script and bring them that way,
it is so fun. I see the surprise
on people’s faces, I see the
joy and I hope that they see
the joy in mine. Every show is
different, I sort of follow where
the audience wants to go. It
has been a real joy and a real
muscle live.
MC: Recently, I said to
someone that every single
person in my life that I have
a deep personal relationship
with is different postpandemic.
Do you think the
same?
RM: I think that we all are;
every relationship that we
have is. Just like anyone who
has been through anything
traumatic, and I think that we
all sort of have, I certainly
have, if you pay attention
during trauma you can learn
invaluable, beautiful things.
MC: What do you think you
those years we were all
separated?
RM: Oh I don’t take anything
for granted anymore. I took
hanging out with a friend for
granted for years in my life,
I think that we all did right?
After the year 2020, everything
changed. I remember thinking
“I should go visit my Mom
more”.