Cameron Mathison Gets Candid About Surviving Life’s Challenges—‘It’s Been a Tough Stretch’ (EXCLUSIVE)
General Hospital’ star whose home was lost to the SoCal Fires talks loss, growth, fitness, and Drew
General Hospital’s Drew floated into 2025 with Willow in his arms… just as her husband Michael was caught in an explosion and Nina was plotting their breakup. Soap operas may be melodramatic, but the truth is, real life never stops throwing challenges in our paths – and Drew’s portrayer Cameron Mathison understands this, all too well.
Here, in an exclusive interview done just days before Mathison’s family home was destroyed in the wildfires raging through Southern California, the kidney cancer survivor who announced his separation from his wife this summer gets candid about the hits he’s taken and how he keeps moving through them.
Plus, with Drew now ever the Quartermaine, the General Hospital star, Beat the Bridge host, and All My Children alum considers his character’s future with Willow and how it feels to play the latest most hated in Port Charles.
Cameron Mathison reflects on his ‘tough stretch’
Having played host on GMA, The Daytime Emmys and more and made rom-com magic on Hallmark and GAC, Cameron Mathison is known for his big ol’ grin—but that doesn’t mean his life’s been easy.
“It’s been a tough stretch,” Mathison admits to Woman’s World. “First it was my cancer (in 2019), then my mom’s brain cancer and her passing away. Then COVID and the talk show I was on, Home and Family, got canceled. Then my dog got cancer and was paralyzed. My wife and I separated… That’s not even all of it, so it’s been a lot.”
With his kids now in college, Mathison announced his separation from Vanessa Marie Arevalo this summer and at 55, he’s suddenly living on his own.
“It’s surreal,” he says. “I had a 100-pound Doberman, an amazing 22-year marriage, and two kids at home, and it’s all gone. Obviously, the kids are coming back, and I try to focus on gratitude for the stillness, serenity, and even the opportunity to do what I want. But at the same time, I allow myself the sadness, the grace, and the awareness of loss. It was such a beautiful, beautiful time. I would go back in a heartbeat.”
Now, to top it all off, the home he raised his kids in has now been lost to the fires, and the actor is devastated.
Cameron Mathison on surviving life’s challenges: ‘I try not to spiral’
While his General Hospital character has responded to life’s string of hits by leaning into some of the Quartermaine’s darker traits, Mathison considers his own struggles as a time for growth.
“I’ve had plenty of opportunities to try to develop inner-strength and toughness,” he says. “The ways I do it involve going inward—not by numbing out or distracting myself, but through my meditation practice, my spiritual life, and trying to develop and utilize love and compassion for others.
“People are going through this and way, way worse all the time, every day,” he continues. “What can you do to help them? I try not to spiral down into excessive self-concern, and instead use the challenges to improve my patience, my acceptance, my compassion, my connectedness with others. Giving back, volunteering, spreading awareness. Those are the ways I survived all that.”
Cameron Mathison admits, ‘I pushed myself in unhealthy ways’
While Mathison has worked on his internal strength, he’s also still focused on his body – and is happy to show it off on General Hospital, not to mention social media.
“I’ve been doing that for years,” he cracks. “Back in the day, I was known as the shirtless guy, and I was so concentrated on physique that I pushed myself in unhealthy ways just to achieve it. Over time, doing that backfires and messes up your system. What you used to do stops working, so you get more extreme… and then that stops working. It’s a vicious cycle.”
Even before his cancer diagnosis, Mathison was not as healthy as he looked.
“A lot of people, as they get older, don’t realize that they’re doing that to themselves too,” he says. “They think staying healthy is cutting calories and doing more cardio, and I’m telling you right now, it’s killing people. There’s so much more to it.”
Cameron Mathison’s secret to having a healthy body at 55 or any age
In his effort to give back and connect with others, Mathison has been sharing all he’s learned in his journey – not to mention his workouts! – and he’s preparing to share even more.
“I’m really excited about launching my functional health coaching company, Health 360,” he teases. “I’m partnering with Vidal Coaching. It’s a concierge week-to-week check-in system that’s healed my gut, balanced my hormones, gotten my blood sugar under control, given me an unbelievable amount of energy, and helped me build muscle and lose fat.
“Now, I’m eating, at times, 4000 calories a day at 55 years old, and I wake up lean, with veins coming up my abdomen, because I’ve healed my adrenals and my cortisol levels and upregulated my metabolism,” he adds. “It’s changed my life.”
Mathison plans to launch Health 360 this year, with updates coming via his Instagram page.
GH star Cameron Mathison talks Drew’s Quartermaine turn
As Mathison focuses on this next stage of his life and also begins to rebuild his life after losing his home, his character Drew’s causing big drama onscreen. When he assumed the role created by the late Billy Miller, some viewers complained General Hospital had made Jason’s long-lost brother too nice.
“He was a navy seal and heroic, and always did the right thing,” Mathison says. “He definitely had his demons but was a solid guy.”
Having literally helped save the world and Willow, the once-lost Quartermaine who was raised as an orphan almost died twice in captivity and then again while in prison for Carly’s crime… only to lose Carly to Jason’s return. Tack on the hate he receives from Ned and Tracy, and suddenly, he started acting like, well, a sneaky Q!
First, he had hate-sex with Nina, who helped him become a congressman in exchange for his help reconnecting her with her daughter Willow. Then he slept with Willow in the kid’s playroom and tried to buy his nephew Michael’s forgiveness by making him Aurora CEO – which was a betrayal of his best friend, Curtis.
“It was a dramatic change,” Mathison says. “What I noticed the most is how the rest of Port Charles talks about Drew. People hate him! With all the things the Quartermaines have done, with all Jason and Sonny have done, a little infidelity is making Drew the evilest person alive.”
First, he had hate-sex with Nina, who helped him become a congressman in exchange for his help reconnecting her with her daughter Willow. Then he slept with Willow in the kid’s playroom and tried to buy his nephew Michael’s forgiveness by making him Aurora CEO – which was a betrayal of his best friend, Curtis.
“It was a dramatic change,” Mathison says. “What I noticed the most is how the rest of Port Charles talks about Drew. People hate him! With all the things the Quartermaines have done, with all Jason and Sonny have done, a little infidelity is making Drew the evilest person alive.”
GH star Cameron Mathison on playing iconic villain Drew
Mathison enjoyed a dark turn as Ryan on All My Children, but it was nothing like this.
“I’ve never had people hate me so much,” Mathison admits. “I went to Christmas Con, and almost everybody in line was livid at Drew. I’m trying to take smiley pictures with a Christmas tree in the background, and they’re throwing things at me.
“I think there’ll be redemption for Drew, but I’ve always said, no matter what your story is, you’ve got to look at the big picture,” he adds. “It’s good for the show and I think ultimately it’ll be really good for Drew and for me.”
As for Drew and Willow’s future, he’s in their corner.
“I love love stories, and this could be the making of a really cool one… if the show decides to do that,” Mathison maintains. “In soaps, sometimes love stories start in complete dysfunction, mistakes, and betrayal and everybody freaks out… but then the couple comes together. It could be Drew and Willow, against the world.”
Whatever comes for Drew on General Hospital, Woman’s World is sending our best to Cameron Mathison and all those affected by the Los Angeles wildfires.
How to help the victims of the L.A. fires: You can donate to organizations like the California Community Foundation’s Wildfire Relief Fund or the American Red Cross, which provide emergency housing, food and medical aid. Local animal shelters and rescue organizations are also in need of supplies and donations to care for displaced pets. Additionally, volunteering your time, offering temporary housing or donating essentials such as clothing, hygiene products and non-perishable food items to local relief centers can make a big difference. For a targeted impact, consider contributing to GoFundMe campaigns set up by families directly affected by the fires. Every effort helps rebuild lives and bring hope to those in need.
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