Shawn Mendes was in the hot seat on The Late Late Show on Monday night (Nov. 7) when host James Corden roped him into a distanced round of “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” while confronting him with hard questions about his girlfriend, Camila Cabello. Mendes also joined fellow guest Matthew McConaughey to talk about the close relationship they’ve built based on the legendarily laid-back actor’s decision to mentor Shawn over the years and help him navigate the sometimes tricky waters of fame.
The tense round of “Spill,” opened with a real gut-twister, with Corden asking Shawn to rank his favorite collaborators from best to worst. “I really came in with a lot of confidence today that I was going to be able to not eat anything,” said a pained-looking Mendes when asked to 1-2-3 Camila, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. He considered it for a second, pronouncing Cabello number one for sure and the race between Swift and Bieber as too close to call. That meant diving into a square of blood and pork jelly that Mendes said he would likely eat a a Michelin-starred restaurant in Norway, no sweat, only to spit the slimy mess out instantly. The first challenge for Corden was no big deal: name all the members of BTS. No mixed bug trifle for James.
“You know how sick you guys are? You shipped this to me. You refrigerated this and shipped it to me!,” Mendes said with a laugh. Question two was even worse, with Mendes politely passing on coughing up the most amount of money he’s made for an endorsement, so down the hatch with scorpion-dusted plantains. And James was happy to dig into 1,000-year-old eggnog rather than rank Shawn, Harry Styles and Niall Horan’s week-long residencies.
For the final question, Corden challenged Mendes to eat a stinky cow tongue or read the last five texts between himself and Cabello, which as it turned out, were about him getting ready to eat gross stuff on the show. Corden did, however, force Shawn to watch his first Late Late Show joint interview with Cabello from 2015, during which he asked if they were dating. “I have never seen a more unconvincing denial,” the host said.
“It really hard,” Mendes said of remembering the feeling of angst he felt then, revealing that it would be another three years before he fully realized he was in love with Camila. McConaughey then told the heart eyes emoji story of his love at first sight meeting with his future wife, Camila Alves, and the very important response he got her several years later when he asked “what would I have to do to lose you.” The answer will melt your heart, guaranteed.
In a meeting of the great hair club, Mendes and McConaughey also did a joint interview in which Matthew described how they became pals years ago. “I’m pretty sure I forced this relationship on you,” said Mendes, who cold-called the actor looking for some advice on dealing with life in the spotlight. “I think I was looking for some counsel on how to take the blame and take the glory,” said Mendes, who recalled that the words of wisdom from Matt amounted to “you have to be the author of your own life.” Whoa.
Mendes also performed a dramatic version of the ballad “Dream” from his new Wonder album.
Watch Mendes on The Late Late Show below.
