Ross is one gay who won't be prayed away

Ross Mathews has a big HELLO for the husband of Republican presidential contender Michele Bachmann.

"The Tonight Show" correspondent who's about to shoot a pilot for his E! talk show came to Minneapolis to accept the Human Rights Campaign's "Visibility Award." Before collecting the honor at Saturday's HRC gala at the Depot, Mathews spent a few minutes with me.

I tried to ease Mathews into giving Congresswoman Bachmann some makeover tips (although based on a recent AP photo that captured her looking ravishing, she doesn't need pointers as much as she once did).

"Oh, I wouldn't dare," said Mathews, as you can see for yourself at startribune.com/video. "First of all, I think she's beautiful. I think she actually looks pretty put together. Just like I wouldn't give Rick Perry, [Texas guv and another Republican presidential contender] makeover advice, I'm not going to do that with Michele Bachmann.

"I would like to meet Michele Bachmann's husband, though," said Mathews. "I hear he cures gays. I would love to see him crack this nut."

Mathews characterized himself as gay enough to make the coils pop out of any machine that therapist Marcus Bachmann might employ. Mathews' reference to a machine was completely facetious, of course, but you get the point.

After a series of network news reports on the work done by Marcus Bachmann's Christian-based Minnesota counseling centers, Marcus claimed that his counseling business does not try to transform homosexuals into heterosexuals.

"That is not going to work," laughed Mathews.

Shooting a pilotRoss is already the permanent fill-in for "Chelsea Lately" when Chelsea Handler takes nights off from her E! cable show. But the profile of the guy behind helloross.com and Twitter's @helloross is growing even larger.

Mathews is about to shoot a pilot for his own talk show, which he said will be produced by Handler, who has fought this battle for him. "She's the best. I love her so much," he said.

Mathews said his E show "has the responsibility to be a half-hour of LOL. A smile. It's a crappy world out there. A lot of people don't have jobs. A lot worse is happening to a lot of people. I think there should be a half-hour where people can just smile."

His career in television was inspired by catching "The Oprah Winfrey Show" with his mom. "There was a moment I was watching Oprah [and] Mother looked so happy. I thought, 'That's what I want to do, keep people like my mother happy.' That's what I'm trying to do. There is never a victim at the end of my jokes. There doesn't need to be. I think it's a lot harder to be positive."

A car owned by Brittani's dad, restaurateur Joe Senser, and reportedly driven by her stepmom, Amy Senser, allegedly struck and killed chef Anousone Phanthavong. Phanthavong's family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Sensers, although authorities continue their investigation into other details about the case, including whether Amy Senser was indeed the hit-and-run driver.

Thurl Belfrey is a producer of the reality show with the working title "MNFinest Soap." It co-stars Levi and Brittani.

"She's doing great," said Belfrey. "He was in town to console her. They've remained friends" since shooting her video in L.A. in 2010.

Belfrey said that Johnston was also promoting his book, which probably will be his version of his dealings with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the grandmother of Johnston's son with Bristol Palin.

Levi and Brittani "hung out and had a great time partying. The filming will continue and there is a possibility he'll be coming back here," said Belfrey, who described the reality show as "the goings-on of the entertainment industry in flyover land."