Jay Leno’s Special Reunion On ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’

The Drew Barrymore Show had a brief reunion for Jay Leno when he met up with his former intern Ross Mathews. Leno shared a few stories about what he first saw in his Mathews during the early days of his career. He also revealed a connection to the show’s host.

Leno Drove Up For A Surprise Reunion

Mathews is a television personality who got his start in the industry as an intern for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, where he covered events ranging from movie premieres to the Olympic Games. He also served as a correspondent on The Jay Leno Show. Since 2020, he’s been part of The Drew Barrymore Show, working on the “Drew’s News” segment.

While part of what he believed was a field assignment for The Drew Barrymore Show, Mathews went to Television City Studios to talk with a group of interns about starting in the industry. However, a familiar face ended up driving by in a golf cart: Jay Leno.

As noted by Entertainment Weekly, Mathews shared his surprise saying, “Oh my God, Jay Leno! Can I give you a hug?”

With Mathew’s tenure on the show lasting from 2006 to 2013, he noted it’s been a while since he last saw Leno, as he added, “I haven’t seen you in so long!”

For his part, Leno talked about Mathews with the other interns, saying, “Ross was my favorite intern. We had a lot of them, but he was the most annoying. That was the fun part.”

Mathews Wasn’t The Only One Leno Had History With

When Mathews noted that it’s been 23 years since they first met, Leno responded, “I still think of you as a kid, but you’re like a grown adult now.” This caused Mathews to quip that, “I have a mortgage, Jay.”

Mathews admitted he never got to tell Leno how much he learned while working on the show, causing Leno to detail his former intern’s start on the show. “Well, we enjoyed having you. I always liked you because you were kind. I think you started in the mail room. I don’t mean this in a weird way, but you had no discernible talent,” Leno noted.

As Leno noted, something that stood out to him about Mathews was his “funny personality.” Leno highlighted that as something that proved there was something about Mathews, adding, “I thought, ‘Well, this kid’s got something.’”

However, it turned out that Mathews wasn’t the only person on the show that Leno had a connection with. Leno revealed that he actually met Barrymore herself when she was three while dating her aunt.

According to Decider, Leno revealed that “I was dating her aunt. She was asked to babysit…I picked you up and I bounced you on my knee. It was just very funny actually.”

When Barrymore asked if Leno remembered anything about her, he pointed out, “You were a baby! I was a boyfriend of a babysitter…You just made the kid laugh.”

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