Jay Leno Has Surprise Reunion with Former 'Tonight Show' Colleague

Jay Leno surprised his old Tonight Show colleague and intern Ross Matthews on Thursday's new episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. Matthews, now a famous comedian in his own right who serves as co-host for the talk show's "Drew's News" segment, first began working with Leno back in 2001 and quickly became a fan-favorite, covering movie premieres, awards ceremonies, Olympic Games, and other events.

Matthews was on field assignment at Television City Studios to speak with a group of interns about getting started within the entertainment industry when his old boss snuck up on him in a golf cart.

"Hi everybody, Jay Leno here, I'm gonna surprise Ross, I haven't seen him in quite awhile, so ... I think he's changed," the 74-year-old quipped ahead of the sweet reunion. "Is he still a kid?"

"Ross, how are you?" Leno asked the clearly shocked Matthews, who gushed, "Oh my God, Jay Leno! Can I give you a hug? I haven’t seen you in so long!"

"Ross was my favorite intern. We had a lot of them, but he was the most annoying. That was the fun part," Leno reminisced. "Can you believe, Jay, it’s been 23 years since I started on your show? And look at at us, we look great!" the 44-year-old noted. In turn, Leno responded with a wink, telling Matthews, "Well, I look great, anyway. No, no, you look good, you look terrific."

The pair then decided to take a little tour around the studio to catch up, during which Matthews noted that somehow, he had never been in a car with the noted automobile aficionado, and that he couldn't believe that 23 years had gone by. "I still think of you as a kid, but you’re like a grown adult now," Leno admitted, to which Mathews joked, "I have a mortgage, Jay."

Jokes aside, Matthews expressed to Leno how much it meant to him in getting his big break on The Tonight Show. "I've never has the chance to really tell you how much I reference what I learned from you," he said from the heart.

"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 teased. "I mean, you didn't sing, you didn't dance ... It's like, when you're on The Tonight Show, [they'd say] 'Well do your act, let me see what you do.' Oh yeah, well that's funny or it's not funny. But you just had a funny personality, I thought, 'Well this kid's got something.'"

"Show biz is the opposite of real life. If you're annoying and you drive people crazy, well that's a good thing!" The Jay Leno's Garage host continued, remembering the time they sent Matthews to the Hollywood premiere of Ocean’s Eleven. "I said, ‘Well, how about that new, annoying guy, Ross the intern?' I think he might be funny. And you did a great job and then it kind of leap-frogged from there."

There are certainly worse ways to get your big break.