Each week HuffPost Celebrity will be chatting with eliminated contestants from Oxygen's new show, "The Glee Project," a reality series with a 7-episode arc on the hit show "Glee" on the line. We talked with Matheus Fernandes -- the 4’9” Atlanta singer eliminated on the Duets episode -- about his audition process and all the drama with duet partner Alex.
How did you end up on the show?
I actually auditioned on MySpace and never got called back on that actually, but I heard about an open casting call and I took a bus all the way from Atlanta to Texas 22 hours to audition.
The show this week was pretty dramatic, what do you think looking back on the whole situation between you and Alex leading up to your elimination?
I love Alex, during the competition I really liked him and loved everybody there. We made up afterwards. I guess our personalities clashed up a little bit. He has a whole diva attitude type thing, but no matter how talented somebody is I think it's important to be grounded. It was dramatized up a little bit, but we do like each other a lot and made up after.
Ryan Murphy gave a lot of notes for you when you were in the bottom three for several weeks, especially about being more leading man and more sexy. How did you respond to that?
Throughout my whole life I've always been kind of insecure about myself, and he noticed that, even though to some extent when the show was put together I actually ended up looking confident. When I sang that Jay Sean song he told me to go crazy, go nuts, embrace my sex appeal. In a way I tried to take it in a positive light, and he is right. In my life so many people have come up to me and tried to put me down, so I appreciate it in a way. I came out of my shell and I can embrace myself how I am as a person. I'm very thankful for it.
You seem to have a positive outlook on the experience.
I didn't come home with the big win, but what I set out to do in the beginning was not only follow my own dreams but inspire people out there.
You got to work with a lot of guest judges during your time on the show. Any favorites?
All of them were amazing. Dot Marie Jones was incredible and we related a lot with each other -- we were the opposite spectrum, she was this really tall lady and I'm a short guy, so we related a lot and had a lot of the same trouble growing up. Darren Criss is also incredible, just a down to earth guy and you feel like you were hanging with a buddy.
How has the fan response been from the Gleeks?
For the most part it's positive, there's always going to be some hate. I came in with the mindset for that, and I think that the things I've been through in the past helped me put up a shell. But for the most part it was good. Some criticized me for taking off my shirt, but Ryan asked me to do all that stuff! I'm thankful some fans took the time to get to know me.
Now that you're eliminated, who's your favorite to win?
I can't go into detail! But I think they're all really amazing, even Alex. I'm definitely close to all of them, so whoever ends up making it I'm happy.
Do you think there's a certain kind of character missing on "Glee?"
Can I say me? Just kidding. I don't know, I think we were all put there because we all have Glee aspects to us. I think there hasn't been somebody on Glee who had to struggle through life as much.
What's next for you?
I didn't want to go home, so after we finished shooted I ended up staying in LA. I'm going to keep pushing for it, it's going to be hard. In my life I've gotten many nos, but part of this industry is getting yourself back up and brushing the dust off your shoulders.