Ross Mathews Says He’s the Closest Any Man Got to Being a Permanent Host on ‘The View’

ABC’s The View still hasn’t had a man as one of the permanent hosts, but talk show personality Ross Mathews claimed that he got very close.

Mathews, who made a name as an intern and a correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, went on to make regular appearances as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, and as a panelist on Chelsea Lately.

He’s starred on Celebrity Big Brother and had his own short-lived talk show Hello Ross! And Mathews is currently a regular on The Drew Barrymore Show.

Other men like Mario Cantone made regular appearances in the host chair. But Mathews claims he was seriously considered for the cast permanently and even made a deal until network executives had other plans.

Ross Mathews was a huge Barbara Walters fan before ‘The View’

“The View was really fascinating,” Mathews said on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast. I loved The View, I would watch it all the time.”

“Barbara Walters, I wrote a paper on her in college … I think she’s extraordinary. The book she wrote ‘Audition is American History’ is through the eyes of somebody who changed American history and documented it. She is fascinating. Her career is fascinating. She was very kind to me.”

“In the early days was when I first started going on The View and then I came back all these years later,” he said. “I was very close to being the first man ever hired on The View. In fact, they told me, ‘Get ready to move to New York. We’re having a meeting this afternoon and we are informing the network that we wanna hire you.'”

Ross Mathews had a deal with ‘The View’ and it vanished

“I got on a plane and splurged for WiFi because I was gonna be a new co-host on The View. I could afford it,” Mathews said. He took a short nap and woke to a devastating headline. “I refreshed and the headline on TMZ was, Sherri Shepherd, Jenny McCarthy, and Bill Geddes all fired at The View.'”

“They had a meeting with executives and it all just disappeared right there, you know? And no one ever knew except us. It was heartbreaking,” he said. He added, “It was going to be me and one other man joining Sherri, Jenny, and Whoopi [Goldberg].”

“But look what it led to, you know what I mean?” he said referring to the string of appearances. “I still got to where I was meant to be. And to be quite frank, talking with Drew [Barrymore] every day about news stories that aren’t political, even though I love politics, but that are about good news and funny news and pop culture is such a better fit for me than anything like that.”

He also had no shade for The View. “I think The View‘s doing great [and] is as good as it’s ever been. They really are in their zone,” he said. “I think the production is top-notch. They know what they’re doing.”