The Rachael Ray Show returns for its 16th season Sept. 13, with the celebrity chef, who first struck it big with Food Network’s 30 Minute Meals in 2001, utilizing a hybrid shooting plan for her syndicated series, filming in a New York City studio as well as in her home in the Adirondack Mountains. This season comes after a difficult year for Rachael Ray, 53, whose home burned down in August 2020 — but now has been rebuilt — and she will film in both her guesthouse and the newly rebuilt property, taking viewers with her as she resettles into the space. In advance of the show’s premiere, Ray tells THR about navigating food and famous guests since the show’s 2006 debut and what’s in store for 2021.
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How has the show changed over 16 seasons?
The most obvious and dramatic change has been in the past year and a half — the whole world had to pivot. I always wanted this show to have a life of its own, to not be solely about celebrity on any level, mine or our guests’. I wanted people to see themselves and to see stories of real heroes that live, possibly, next door to them or in a community in their state. I wanted people to feel that not only could anybody be a Rachael Ray story, but they would feel a part of everything that they saw — that they could touch it, that they could cook it, they could feel like that. I wanted celebrities to sit at the kitchen table so that they would feel they were visiting someone’s house rather than doing yet another talk show or something they had to do because it was part of publicity that they felt forced to do. From the get-go, all of the 16 years, I wanted celebrities to feel less like celebrities and more like members of the community and our neighbors. And I wanted members of our community and our neighbors to see themselves in the same light and think of themselves more like celebrities. Those basic principles have never changed, but the volume, to use a Spinal Tap reference, got turned up to 11 during the pandemic.
What was it like transitioning to at-home filming during the pandemic?
Our home here was always very, very private. This is where I write the shows, where I write books, where [her husband] John [Cusimano] works on his music and where we entertain our sliver of life that was just ours. The first hurdle we got over was a loss of privacy, quite frankly. There was no place anymore for us except to share our home with people or not have a show, period. And then our house burned down, like literally into the ground, nothing. We lost our dog [during the pandemic], we lost our privacy, and then we physically lost our home. I found comfort and great joy in all of the loving letters and messages that people sent.
For your 16th season, you’re starting with filming at home before going back to the studio Oct. 1. How do you feel about the return?
The studio we changed again to make it try to feel more intimate, more like what has become the new normal for our show over the past year and a half. We’re trying to make it look a little more like life [at home] because we’ve been here for so long and done more than 200 episodes from here with just myself and my husband. We’re trying to marry those two worlds. I don’t know how many guests are going to be able to come to the studio, I don’t know how many of them will still be on Zoom.
[During at-home filming] there’s physically two people in this house — doing the work of cleaning the floor, cleaning the stove, prepping the food, setting the lights, setting the cameras, downloading all the recordings for that day, prepping all of the materials for the next day. John sets up his co*cktails for the next day or whatever he has to do production-wise for the next day — all of that is done in this house by two people. That’s a lot. When we go to the studio, there will be the luxury of lots of folks helping me clean the dishes and someone will clean the stove in between each scene and someone will be able to fix the lights and John won’t have to be on scaffolding. That part of it I can’t even believe we’re going to get to experience again, it’s going to be really exciting.
Looking back on the seasons, are there any memories from the show that stick out to you?
There were many. Our 2,000th episode [in 2017] where Oprah literally hosted me on my own show; Tony Bennett serenaded me, 50 Cent came out and surprised me and I thought he was just on videotape — he’s a bit of a crush. My husband was literally standing backstage, and I didn’t know he was there. It was a weird day but a great day. To make it to 2,000 shows was a huge thing. And also the first time Michael J. Fox came on the show, it was so emotional for me. We’ve become friends with Michael and [his wife] Tracy over the years, and that was a day that changed my life. He’s the most positive human I think I’ve ever met.
Do you have a favorite or most requested recipe ?
Over the years, I’ve tried to write for the way people eat. I’ve had to educate myself and re-educate myself because now so many people in my personal life and folks that watch the show eat in so many different ways. Sixteen years ago, literally if you just had chicken, pasta, buffalo anything, chili anything — you’re good. Now you need pescatarian, flexitarian, vegetarian, vegan; you have to write to so many different needs. There’s so much wonderful content that people are making from their own home kitchens and elevating the game. Food is so much more fun to work in now than 16 years ago for me because the bar has been raised.
Has it been difficult to consistently come up with new recipes?
It has become easier and easier, quite frankly, and more and more inspiring. You’re constantly trying something or seeing something new. The world has become smaller and smaller in so many ways with social media, but it’s also become smaller in our access to the ingredients that we rely on to make that happen. Fifteen years ago, there was no such thing as gluten-free one-to-one flour that you could buy at any grocery store or online and comparison shop the price. There’s so much more in the candy store, in the Crayola box. I live in the middle of the Adirondack Mountains, man, and I can get anything here, literally anything.
How have you seen the daytime TV landscape change during your run?
I’ve never been that person, I don’t think about what everybody else is doing. I just think about how we stay true to what our goal is and are the folks that work with me every day happy? Do they feel fulfilled and are they doing the stuff that’s exciting to them, too? I think that just comes from making it clear who you are and what you want from the get-go and trying to find folks that have that same sort of core belief. I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a conversation with anybody about what anybody else was doing in daytime. Maybe that’s ignorant or stupid or a terrible business strategy, but we really spend time just focusing on how many more positive stories we can get out there. Among the celebrities that we have relationships with, what are they doing right now? We like that family feeling, and I think that’s evident when we do have celebrities on, and you often see the same folks over and over again. We feel close to them, we feel like we built something together.
How long do you see the show going?
I don’t think it’s my choice. It’s not even the choice of all the folks I work with — it’s up to the people that watch and how much they enjoy it or not. I feel like we go to work with sincerity and whole hearts every day, and when it’s time to go, it’ll be time to go. And I won’t be sad about that either, because it’s given us so much. I always have nine jobs, not just one, so I will just work a little harder on some of the other things and a little less on this thing. But we’ve really felt so incredibly lucky to be here. For some folks, they choose, “Hey, you know what, I’m tired, I want to retire.” That’s not really my nature.
Interview has been edited for length and clarity.
This story first appeared in the Sept. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
