Boom With A View – The Inside Scoop on Debbie Matenopoulos

Two-time Emmy nominee, Debbie Matenopoulos is most well-known as the vivacious beauty who dishes the latest in celebrity news, style and entertainment. As a compelling journalist, talk show host and actress, she has proven herself to be a multifaceted talent in the entertainment world.
A regular face on E! Entertainment Television, Matenopoulos not only co-hosts the network’s second highest rated show, The Daily 10, but also critiques celebrity style on Fashion Police. When not performing her regular hosting duties, Debbie works the mic for E!’s live red carpet events including the Emmys, Grammys, Golden Globes and Academy Awards. And if all this weren’t enough, Debbie fills in her down time by co-hosting the Style Network’s #1 rated show, Instant Beauty Pageant.
Fluent in five languages, Debbie represents intellectual, witty women who strive to challenge their own beliefs, while also making an impact on the world. Recently I got a chance to catch up with Debbie and discuss her extensive career and aspirations for the future, and discovered a very deep and compelling woman.
Jane Emery: You wear a lot of hats over at E!, how are you enjoying that?
Debbie Matenopoulos: I have such a good time there. I really enjoy it in the way that it’s so light-hearted and so fun. I keep busy and I don’t get bored with any of them because I also have the Instant Beauty Pageant. If I feel like I’m going through the same motions every day, like it’s the same thing, then I go off to do the Beauty Pageant or then award season starts, and I have the Golden Globes, the Emmys, the Oscars, the Grammys that keeps you busy and keeps you in a totally different element. Then, I have Fashion Police, where I get to go over everybody’s clothes, which is so much fun. I am such a fashion addict, I just can’t tell you! My mom was a stylist and I used to look at Vogue and pull out pages when I was five years old just because I liked the clothes. That was in Richmond, VA; not like I was going to ever have some couture Yves Saint Laurent. ‘This is beautiful,’ my mom used to say, ‘but you can’t wear this stuff here.’ We’re in Richmond, VA where everybody is a bit more conservative. So, I was always interested in that sort of thing. The thing with Fashion Police, I just kind of fell into it. It wasn’t even meant to happen. They asked me to fill in for someone after the Golden Globes. I thought it was as a guest host and I got there and they said: ‘No, you’re hosting the show.’ And I went: ‘What? What are you talking about? Can I get a script?’
JE: Love you on that! And your co-hosts are such characters!
DM: Oh, they are so funny and I’m not sure too many people can reign them in. They can get so catty and so bitchy – they are hysterical! So then I get to that and that takes me out of the element doing all the celebrity news. So that really keeps me busy. It’s so much fun being able to switch from one to the other.
JE: Tell us a little bit about your gig on The Style Network.
DM: I do the Instant Beauty Pageant on Style. This is the second season and my co-host is Cameron Mathewson, better known as Ryan on All My Children. We go around the country and find five different women in the mall and give the500 bucks and make them find a bathing suit, an evening gown, shoes, come up with the talent and do their make-up and let them get up on stage and compete in a Beauty Pageant. I have a blast doing it.
JE: There’s so many sides to you. You are breezy, fun and personable – people think, Debbie Matenopoulos  – she’s cool, light hearted, funny…
DM: People have no idea. Just like anybody else we are all more then two-dimensional. We have different strengths and weaknesses. We all have different sides of our personality. And the job that I am doing right now happens to be light-hearted, funny and sarcastic. Kind of witty and making fun of the system, but at the same time not biting the hand that feeds us.
JE: Delicate balance.
DM: Right, it’s a very delicate balance; it’s a little dance you have to do.
JE: Any thoughts on producing some of your own stuff for E! Entertainment?
DM: As far as producing stuff with E!, I actually wrote a show called Home Sweet Home and sold it to them and we’ve kind of been sitting on it because I got busy with everything else. I sold the show before I even got the job on The Daily Ten. I also have a couple of other things I’ve written for them that I want to pitch to them. And one of them is doing either a late night show with a late night and day time vibe mix – like Oprah meets Letterman – that would show the different types of things that I can do. Just do something a little headier on E!. Something that’s going to make them think. That’s the audience that you need to capture – you need to get kids when they’re 14…21 is too late…and help them. Not shove it down their throat in a history or government class. All you do is cram and learn about politics as quickly as possible. And that doesn’t stick. The way to teach them about the world around them is the way it affects them directly. I’m not talking about their school. How it affects their every day life. Kids don’t think about the big picture that way, they think how does it immediately affect you. If you teach that to a 14 or 15 year old through entertainment its fun and you are educating them without them even knowing they are being educated. That’s the time when they’re forming their attitudes, their belief system, but they still function on emotion then as opposed to facts. Those are the kids who are going to be running the Nation. At 21 it is just too late. You think you know what you’re doing, and you’re more worried about trying to get your life together – get an apartment, get a job – to be concerned about the bigger picture.
But there are times where I think: You know what? There’s got to be a place on E! or on TV where we can combine both of those things. Where it doesn’t have to be all celebrity news or it doesn’t have to be all politics. That’s exactly what The View did, but when I was there daytime TV was simply not ready for my views and opinions ten years ago. And frankly daytime TV didn’t care what a 21 year old had to say. I wouldn’t care what a 21 year old had to say now on TV. But as a 21 year old you don’t know that, because you’re trying to figure everything out yourself and you’re in your own element.
JE: I think most people don’t realize that you got your start right after getting your journalism degree from NYU and was an original cast member of The View…
DM: The viewers that I have today are probably between 14 and 25, there are some in their 30’s in there, and of course, my family and you. And very few of them know that I was on The View. They don’t even realize. I said it the other day to some interviewer: ‘I bet you they’re thinking that it is me still sitting there.’
JE: How was your experience at The View?
DM: I had a great time on The View. It was an amazing time, it was also a tumultuous time with a completely different cast. Meredith Vieira is one of the most amazing women I’ve ever met in my life. Joy [Behar] was a comedian. She was there having a good time and she and I always had a good rapport. I was able to pass her the ball and she would go for the lay up. So she was always really good. We didn’t even try to do that, it was just the way we interacted. When I went back in June of last year as a guest hose and when I did the thing there, it was so funny because it was the same exact thing. It was not intended, our energy together for some reason…we are just good like that.
JE: Sounds like a great team.
DM: And Barbara [Walters], she is the Grand Dame of it all, she would decide on the topics. Also it was such a different time. It was 10 years ago. A completely different time when you think about it; It was 1997 – that’s when I started there. Daytime TV was much different then it is today. The things I used to do on that show wouldn’t even register on standard practices radar compared to what they do now. Things I used to do that were considered so crazy and wild, they are so mild compared to what they do on that show now.
JE: You were brought in to represent Generation X and kind of ‘rock the boat’.
DM: Yeah, the idea of ‘rocking the boat’ was around when I was there. I guess it had just started, so it wasn’t as widely known as it should have been. And you’re right – nobody was paying attention to our generation, so I think they thought their idea was great. ‘Put a generation X-er in there and she’ll be representing the generation.’ I wasn’t even capable of representing myself at that time. How in the world was I supposed to represent an entire generation?
JE: You were the experiment.
DM: Oh my God, that’s funny! I was the Generation X experiment, like they do with monkeys.
You have no idea what’s going on. Suddenly you have the world telling you who you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to be. In my case I had all these producers telling me…I mean it’s confusing enough just being you without everybody else having an opinion of who you’re supposed to be. Being there back then, if you asked me ten years ago if I thought a 21 year old had a place on that show, I would have said in a cocky way: ‘Yeah, of course a 21 year old! We matter.’ We’re the ones that matter as far as the election goes. Meanwhile none of us voted cause generation X was too lazy to get off their asses and vote. Or most of them were.
The thing with The View, I was 21 years old, I didn’t know what to say to people. The only thing that I could have told you is how to get to the club. And then I was sitting there with Barbara Walters having just come from the Sound Factory the night before. All I could think about was dancing under a disco ball and they are sitting there asking me about politics. I wasn’t even capable of managing my own life. Certainly not micro-managing myself, much less looking at the big picture on how our country was managed. You don’t know what you think at 21.You’re trying to think about what you think.
It wasn’t until I was 28 years old where I finally realized: I think I might believe in the things that I’m doing now. Every day I wake up, I realize now I know less and less, and that the world is always a new slate. And you just got to keep learning and if you’re not learning then you’re just taking up space. You know if you think you know everything, how boring would your life be. And it is a bad way to live.
JE: What are your thoughts on Rosie O’Donnell’s departure from The View?
DM: Well, it’s been pretty interesting. I think it is really unfortunate that Rosie left.   Either way I’m upset about it. What happened with her and the way they used those discussions. I think it’s a really good thing because it forces people to question their belief system. It makes people rethink things. It allows for people to grow and for our country to grow. And I think seeing that kind of stuff on that kind of platform, on a show that gives you the platform to discuss those kinds of things, especially women, is really important.
I think honesty, even though it is sometimes difficult for people to hear, is important because a lot of people don’t want to hear the truth. I think hearing both those women’s opinion (Rosie and Elizabeth Hasselbeck), and hearing them go head to head, is what happens – it’s entertainment news country. People have those kinds of clashes and they are better out in the open than swept under the carpet because then no change occurs at all. Change doesn’t happen by being complaisant. Change happens from people being uncomfortable and from people rocking the boat. I think it is important. It is kind of saddening because there isn’t another place on TV now where you can turn on a show and actually see that kind of debate and see that kind of passion.
JE: I see The View is nominated for this year’s Daytime Emmys.
DM: Yes, the ratings are very high. So it’s just really unfortunate, you know. I love Rosie. I’ve only met Elizabeth [Hasselbeck] a few times. She was always nice to me. I don’t know her outside that show but she seems nice enough. And whether you believe in some of the views or opinions or not, doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends with them. I don’t believe in everything my friends say, but that doesn’t mean they are not my friends.
If you don’t follow things that closely, you don’t realize. So frankly the best career move for Elizabeth was Rosie O’Donnell. Before that she was sort of invisible. No one really one way or another really cared about her. But Rosie has put her in a place where she has to speak. And that is beautiful. She did amazing things for Elizabeth’s self-esteem and her platform. She now can stand up and say: ‘Here I am and listen!’ Before Elizabeth was just quiet and no one ever put her in that place.
JE: A lot of growth occurred there.
DM: Yeah, and unfortunately many times great things come out of uncomfortable situations. It has to get to a point where it snaps and then everything is out in the open and then people can start over and start to rebuild.
JE: Since you are a native East-coaster, what made you decide to settle in L.A.?
DM: I came to L.A. from New York City because after The View, William Morris said: ‘Look what are you going to do: FOX news, or are you going to be on a soap opera? Take a pick. Or are you going to move to L.A.?’ So wouldn’t you know it, I packed my things and moved after 4 or 5 months. And it was tough at first. No one walks around, I went to the museums by myself. But after being done trying to compare apples and oranges, I liked it. And when I go back East now I’m not sure I could live there anymore, it’s a little too fast for me.
L.A is a like a stealth bomber. It’s like a quiet storm. The first I could call it home was when I came back from a trip from New York and Virginia and I remember my heart wasn’t bleeding anymore as we were taking off and flew over the skyline of New York City. And I remember I felt so excited when I saw the L.A. skyline. I knew I was home. And it gets inside of your blood and you’re an Angelino for life. I can’t imagine not having a car, that space, a yard. Being able to have dinner parties and the weather is amazing. Being able to be at the beach and go snowboarding the same day. You give me one state where you can do that within 3 hours.
It has one of the most gorgeous landscapes I have ever seen in my life. To the point where it brings me to tears, when I drive up the PCH, you look at the ocean and the rock formation and you do realize L.A.’s the place. When you look at something that beautiful there’s no doubt in my mind that there’s a higher being, God. You can’t beat a place like L.A. And people are nice and so laid back, and the stress level is so much lower. New York is for the young, the beautiful and the hungry. L.A. is for the more laid back, maybe you’re still hungry but you have a different way to travel the mountain.
JE: I remember and loved you as a co-host Good Day Live here with Steve Edwards and Arthel Neville. 
DM: I loved that show. Then it was cancelled after a year. When I was there people did actually crazy stuff.
JE: I read about your accident while on the air, I was shocked.
DM: When I jumped off the building. That was my doing. You know that saying if your friends asked you to jump off a building would you do it? Yes well, clearly I would. Basically it was on Good Day Live and the show was on for 9 months, we were right on the bubble, not knowing if we were going to be renewed or not. They were like, ‘All you have to do is bring the ratings up 5%. We ended up bringing it up 13% but it didn’t matter at that point, when the decision is made it’s done. But right before they pulled the plug we’re doing everything we can to save the show in sweeps.
So they taught me how to be a firefighter. Basically the training they do in a year, I did in 2 hours. And the final training was to jump off of the roof and fall into those bouncy-moon things. And I was wearing a fireman’s suit and his boots that weighed 30 pounds. Those suits by the way are usually 60 pounds. It is so heavy, I had no idea. I have such respect for those guys now. And then you have to carry that rope up. It is unbelievable what they do. Throw yourself into a fire with those extra 60 pounds on you, running up those stairs…
So I was on the roof and they were saying ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.’ But what they didn’t realize was that those boots were so heavy, I couldn’t move my legs, because the boots were pulling my feet down. And I was trying to get my feet up in a pipe position. And you only have a split second to think. So my feet were crunched up and my spinal cord and my vertebrae were damaged. I punched myself accidentally with my hand, hit my head and went blind for a minute or two. I couldn’t see at all but they had it all on tape.
I had a splitting headache; lights were hurting me, noises. I had a concussion, I just didn’t know it. I basically bruised my brain. So I was in the hospital with a concussion, two pinched nerves and it was excruciating. It was good that an EMT was on site, but of course me being me I was more embarrassed than anything. But I’m a Timex, I take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.
JE: But you went for it and you had courage. That was a lot to go through. Thank God you are ok. Tell me, what would be your perfect career situation?
DM: To be able to combine entertainment and be able to keep it light and fun, but something where you actually force people to think while they’re being entertained. Making them question their belief system, authority and even their own thoughts. Making them question everything because that’s living, that’s progress. There’s no way for a human race, a country, to progress unless you question things and unless you shake things up. You can’t expect people to grow and learn and to get better if you don’t allow yourself to open your eyes to other experiences, possibilities and other ways of doing things.
JE: What are some of the charities that you support here in L.A.?
DM: Just last year I have been working with the Friendly House. It is the oldest rehabilitation center for women in L.A. It helps women regain their life after having an addiction. It’s an open door policy, always. They have done amazing things for a lot of women, even in the entertainment business. I know Amber Valetta who had an eating disorder, she was a fit model.
I also do lots of charity for dogs and for cats. I did a fundraiser for L.A. Dog Works. Also my husband’s lawyer is involved with charities for schools in LA. and he told me over dinner the other night that some of the public schools in the Palisades don’t have enough books and desks for the kids. They only graduate 75% of the kids and the inner city schools only 46%. So I told him: ‘Sign me up!’
JE: You married Jay Faires, president of Music at Lions Gate Entertainment and founder of Mammoth Records. You both must stay very busy. Are there kids in your future?
DM: Yeah, definitely at some point, but right now with my four jobs I’d probably be working till my water breaks. I’d be delivering while we are going to commercial break. I definitely want to have kids, I’m going to pack them in my bag and keep running with them everywhere.
JE: Deb, thank you so much for taking the time and sharing your thoughts with us.

DM: No, thank you. I am so happy, it was nice talking to you.
Debbie Matenopoulos is a woman to watch. I personally predict monumentos things for this multi-faceted dynamo.
For now you can watch Debbie every night on the Daily 10 on E! Entertainment Television.