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Ross Mathews is marrying fiancé Dr. Wellinthon Garcia sooner than he expected — and it’s all thanks to his good pal and boss, Drew Barrymore.
“She changed my life when she asked me to join her show because it brought me to New York where Wellinthon lived,” the “Drew Barrymore Show” personality exclusively tells Page Six while promoting his cover of The Knot’s summer 2022 issue (on newsstands now).
“Our love story really got fast-tracked because I was here,” he continued. “If it weren’t for my relationship with Drew, I don’t know that Welly and I would be getting married already. It might have taken some more time to figure out the logistics of it all.”
Mathews met Garcia during a 2020 vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, weeks before the world was upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The TV host, who was based on the West Coast at the time, and the educational administrator, a Big Apple resident, dated long-distance for months. Mathews eventually proposed in February 2021, shortly after he moved to the city for his “Barrymore” gig.
“Drew has had a front-row seat to our relationship,” Mathews notes. “She has been supportive on-camera. I mean, if you watch ‘The Drew Barrymore Show’ every day, you see us talking about my relationship openly. And she’s been equally supportive off-camera.”
That’s why Mathews, 42, ultimately chose Barrymore, 47, to be her flower girl for his upcoming wedding in Mexico.
“She’s going to go into that ceremony the biggest star in the world and she’s just going to turn her light towards us,” he says, predicting how the Flower Beauty CEO will handle her role. “That’s exactly who she is as a human being. It’s why she’s such a great talk show host and an even better human.”
The “Name Drop” author is also grateful to Barrymore for giving him a platform to discuss his romance with Garcia on “The Drew Barrymore Show.”
By publicly discussing their journey as a couple — also with The Knot and again with Page Six — Mathews hopes to empower LGBTQIA+ individuals who are in search of successful queer love stories in the media.
“Welly and I went on the show a couple weeks ago to debut the cover of The Knot and I told [Drew] why it was so important for us to share our love story on a large scale,” he recalls. “She said, ‘When I watch you guys in person and on social media and in the magazine, there’s so much joy there. Is it as joyful? Are you having as much fun as it looks?’”
Mathews told Barrymore that her assessment was correct — and, more importantly, validating.
“The answer is, ‘Yes, even more fun!’ She made me realize that if the intention was to share our love story with the world, we are executing that intention,” he says. “Welly and I didn’t have examples growing up, so we wanted to show other members of the community, especially kids, that this is not only possible but beautiful.”
The couple is working with celebrity event planner Michael “Mikie” Russo on their “chic, tropical and festive” nuptials.
“I never thought I would have a wedding planner. To me, that always sounded like something a Kardashian would have. But working with Mikie has been incredible,” he says of Russo, who has planned weddings for former “Bachelorette” Rachel Lindsay and “Shark Tank” star Robert Herjavec.
“I haven’t had to think about anything other than marrying the love of my life,” Mathews adds. “And I can’t wait.”
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