If there was one phrase to sum up Ross Mathews’ way of living, it would be, “Just do you honey!”
I spoke with the red carpet guru about maintaining his confidence and not giving in to stereotypes, and his responses were spot-on.
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“Here’s the deal. I think people want to put everybody in a little box,” Mathews said during our interview. “I think if you just do you and sort of surprise people, that’s the best way to live, and it’s the most interesting way to live. Don’t you think? Everything else is just so boring, all these stereotypes. So I just think I try to break every single one of them.”
Clearly, the motto is working for Mathews, who is celebrating a big win with the pass of California’s Proposition 2, which mandates that hens must have more room, ensuring farming is humane. The cause is close to the host’s heart and should be a cause on everyone’s agenda.
“I love animals, I love food, but I find it very confusing when you’re shopping for them,” Mathews explained. “You know there’s so many different things from cage-free to organic to free range… I just didn’t understand it. And then when I started working with Happy Egg Co., I looked into Proposition 2 and realized it was really good that they passed that, and now they enacted it California. Hens get to have at least a little room to move around, but Happy Egg Co. goes so much further than that.”
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He said Happy Egg Co. makes sure the hens are “in a good place” so you can feel good about buying eggs in the store.
“I get along with hens. Chicks are my kind of people.” (See what he did there?)
The law is significant, according to Mathews, because “we can do better. I think a lot of people aren’t educated. I know I wasn’t exactly on just how inhumane it’s been in the past. And when you find out, it’s kind of horrifying.”
For example, caged birds have anywhere from 67 square inches to 116 square inches per bird. That’s less than a letter-size sheet of paper and a legal-size sheet of paper, respectively. That’s nothing! The Happy Egg farm, on the other hand, is 5 acres, according to the company’s website, which translates to a minimum of 14 square feet per bird. It far exceeds free-range standards and blows caged standards out of the water.
Mathews hopes Prop 2 raises awareness in the grocery store. Consumers “have a choice,” he said.
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Mathews is also excelling in his personal life.
I couldn’t help but fall in love with Mathews and his boyfriend of six years, celebrity stylist Salvador Camarena, at the People’s Choice Awards this year. Of course, Camarena was there to support his boyfriend at the Happy Egg Co. event as well.
“We are quite a pair. I love him so much,” Mathews told me.
He doesn’t think fame has affected his relationship at all. In fact, it’s just the opposite. “Our relationship has not gotten harder as I’ve become more successful. I actually don’t know that I could have been more successful without him. I work very, very hard. And I’m proud of what I do, but when we go home, it is like the most normal thing you could ever imagine. We watch everything on the DVR with the three dogs, eating everything I probably shouldn’t eat.”
“It’s nice to have a support system. I wish that for everybody.”
You can see Mathews next on the E! News red carpet for the SAG Awards this Sunday, Jan. 25.
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