Cameron Mathison has been charming audiences for years as a model, actor, and TV host. In addition to his correspondent gigs for Good Morning America and Entertainment Tonight, the Canadian-born star has appeared in more than 10 Hallmark channel movies and currently stars as Drew Kain on the popular soap, General Hospital. Off-screen, he’s the devoted father of two kids and a husband to the former model, Vanessa Arevalo. Here’s everything you need to know about Cameron Mathison’s wife.
Who Is Vanessa Arevalo?
Born in Puerto Rico, Vanessa Arevalo (now Vanessa Mathison) is a former model turned entrepreneur. While we don’t know much about her early life or background, we do know that she was a professional model for 18 years before calling it quits to become a mom (more on that in a minute!).
In 2008, she pivoted from stay-at-home-mom to businesswoman when she partnered with friend and fellow entrepreneur, Niccole Kroll, to create a children’s clothing line called KEA + JOBY. “The clothes sell themselves, they’re fantastic,” she said in a 2008 interview with People. “They’re so soft that the kids don’t want to take them off. The style is so clean and basic, there’s a sophistication to them. And they don’t look like every other child’s clothes on the playground. You want your child to look special.”
Cameron And Vanessa Have Been Married Since 2002
According to Cameron, Vanessa was a little wild back in her modeling days. “When we first met, we were, like, full-time, part-time partiers,” Cameron admitted in a 2017 interview with Soap Opera Digest. “I was a maniac, and she was my partner-in-crime!”
However, it wasn’t long before the couple started to realize they wanted to take life a little more seriously. “I remember [Vanessa] telling me once that she felt like her job on Earth was to be a mom, and I was floored by that because she was a successful model with an incredible business sense and had lots of stuff going on,” Cameron explained. “I remember that conversation well, how serious she was. First, it was like, ‘Guess I’m buying a ring!’ And then it was like, ‘Guess we’re having kids!’”
It wasn’t long before Cameron and Vanessa did both those things. The pair tied the knot in 2002, on the heels of a very romantic marriage proposal while on a ski trip in Vail, Colorado.
”We hiked up through the snow to this little plateau—she was actually a little annoyed at me,” Cameron said in an interview with YourTango.com. “I sat her down with a beautiful view behind her and I turned my back to her to go set up the camera. I pulled out the ring and turned around and proposed to her with the camera taking a ton of pictures. Then, I had a big champagne lunch waiting for us at the bottom of the mountain. We skied down the mountain—she said she couldn’t feel her legs and was terrified she would fall and break her leg!”
Luckily, that didn’t happen. The engagement and wedding went off without a hitch, and the couple had their first child, Lucas, in April of 2003. Leila, their second, was born in July of 2006. While Vanessa was overjoyed to become a mom, she did admit it was an adjustment at first. “I think I went through a bit of an identity crisis,” she said in her 2008 People interview. “I was a very successful model for 18 years. I was completely independent and self-sufficient and traveled around the world. And in a minute I was a stay-at-home mom.”
Cameron said he also experienced a bit of shock becoming a dad. “All of a sudden, I had this little, beautiful stranger come into the world and become the most important thing to me,” he told Soap Opera Digest. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me, but at the same time, it was a surprise. Wait a minute, it’s not about me anymore? What’s up with that?”
Now that the kids are (almost) all grown up—Lucas is 18 and Leila is 15—Cameron and Vanessa have really settled down into parenthood. And both make a point to spend as much time with their kids as they can as they grow into adulthood. “I really make an effort as a dad, not only to spend family time with them but also to have one-on-one alone time with each of them,” Cameron said in his Soap Opera Digest interview. “They have so many cool interests.”