Wowlebrity Ross Mathews spilled the T about an uncomfortable encounter he once had with Barbara Walters in the makeup room of The View. In his upcoming book Name Drop he recalls that in 2007 he was asked to return to the show and co-host after a segment he did went particularly well.

Mathews, now 40, soon returned and brought along a “Tonight Show” camera crew to film the experience. While there, he says he was invited into the makeup room, where the ladies toss around topics for the show. Mathews recalls that he felt comfortable chiming in one topic and that’s when he claims Walters barked, “Who is he and why is he here?”

Mathews assumed she was kidding, so he responded in dramatic fashion, “I’m here to cohost The Viewwwwww!!!!!” He says Elisabeth Hasselbeck — who had her own issues with Walters — even tried to diffuse the situation by trying to remind Walters who Mathews was, but the ABC newswoman was having none of it.  

“Can someone please tell me who is so I can talk about him on television,” the “View” creator allegedly said. Mathews says he couldn’t help blurting out, “Why are you being so mean to me?” to which Walters replied, “Because I have no idea who you are or why you are here.”

Later, as he was waiting in the wings to go onstage, he found himself standing next to Walters, and once again, things did not go smoothly.

“Barbara? Do you have any last-minute advice for me?” he asked, to which Walters promptly answered, “I’d like to tell you to go out there and be yourself but I hope you won’t.”

WOW.

Ross, ever the optimist, isn’t one to hold on to a grudge though.

“I decided not to take it personally,” Mathews writes. “Whatever the reason, I can assure you of this: Barbara wasn’t just some confused older woman … At the time she was sharp as a tack and totally in charge.”

Name Drop hits bookstores on February 4. Preorder your copy here.

(via Page Six; photos Avalon)