Leno ‘intern’ moving on up with book, tour

Ross Mathews, known for years as “Ross the Intern” on NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” was a genuine intern in 2001 when producers, noting his boisterous spirit, placed him in front of the cameras to interview George Clooney.

A star was born.

Mathews, who brings his one-man show the Buckhead Theatre June 6, said his mother imbued him with the confidence and self-esteem that enabled him to embrace his quirky persona, even when kids were laughing at him, not with him.

“Call me delusional, but I always assumed I’d be doing what I’m doing now and be exactly where I am,” Mathews said in a recent interview.

The 33-year-old openly gay Washington native recently wrote a memoir called “Man Up!” and pulled no punches, from the first time he had a gay epithet hurled at him to the time he stupidly shoplifted from Lane Bryant.

“I felt it only would work if it was authentic and mortifying,” he said. “It was also therapeutic and cathartic to embrace and understand my story. It was way more personal than I imagined.”

He resisted turning it into a dishy tell-all book about celebrities he had met. (“I’m not a Pollyanna,” he added. “I find it funny when others do it.”) Rather, anecdotes about meeting A-listers such as Madonna fall on the worshipful side.

“It took a long time to write,” he said. “I really wanted to have that goodness shine through. People have tweeted me to say they love how funny the book is but didn’t realize they’d feel so much.”

Mathews’ show at the Buckhead Theatre will feature personal stories, Q&A and pop-culture banter about Amanda Bynes, Lindsey Lohan and the recently out gay basketball player Jason Collins. Then, he’ll sign books. “I will sign every last one,” he said, saying he has spent up to three hours with fans.

He’s a regular contributor to E!’s “Chelsea Lately,” and host Chelsea Handler has taken him under her wing. She helped him get not only his book deal but also his own talk show set to debut this fall on E!

“So many shows tear pop culture down,” Mathews said. “It’s so lame. I love pop culture. I want to bring the world of pop culture and those who love it together.”

He felt nervous writing the first few chapters of the book for Handler to read: “She has four best-selling books. That’s a lot of pressure! But she said she loved it. I couldn’t believe how effusive and complimentary she was. I felt proud that I had her stamp of approval.”

And for folks who are skeptical that he is best buds with actress Gwyneth Paltrow, he tried his best in the book to bolster that claim.

“The story of how it happened was so unbelievable, I asked her to write the forward to literally say it’s true,” he said.