Rachael Ray is taking her daytime present to war-torn Ukraine.
“The Rachael Ray Show” is planning to decamp to Ukraine in October to tape exhibits there because the nation continues to combat for its survival after being attacked by Russia in late February.
“It makes me cry to think about it,” Ray, 54, advised The Put up throughout an interview to speak concerning the seventeenth season of “Rachael Ray,” which premiered earlier this month (2 p.m./Ch. 7). “We’re going to an orphanage that’s also a church and a vocational training school and we’re going to build out their kitchens … and make borscht with the children there.
“We’re going to go back to a hospital [in Lviv], which is a central location for anyone who survives attacks, and we might have time to get to a huge cemetery where the greatest of [Ukraine] and the recently fallen casualties of the war are buried.
“I didn’t want to do this, even privately, with a cellphone, because I’m not doing this for personal gain, like, ‘Oh, look at her, she’s doing work there.’ I hate people who wear philanthropy on their sleeves,” she mentioned. “They’re defending democracy for the free world and we can’t lose sight of that — we need to keep [the Ukrainian people] in our hearts, spirits and minds.”
Right here in New York, “Rachael Ray” returned to its studio final season following the pandemic. Ray, who did the present remotely for some time from her house in upstate New York — with husband John Cusimano as her cameraman — will proceed that hybrid mannequin this season, which opened with a two-part present filmed in Italy.
“A few years ago we opened our home to the TV show and let people see literally every part of or private lives,” she mentioned. “We always kept our home our home, our private space … and even taking pictures there it was like, ‘No, no no.’ I had no choice when we closed the studio during the pandemic … and we’re continuing to do that this year through the end of the season — half in the studio and half upstate.
“I like the mix,” she mentioned, “the fun energy of being in the studio for a prolonged time again. The first couple of days [this season] Kate Hudson and Cameron Diaz were here; they’re both longtime friends of the show and lovely people and to touch them and say hi and hang out backstage was lovely.”
Ray mentioned she doesn’t know what the longer term holds concerning her syndicated discuss present, which premiered in 2006.
“I have to think a lot about it. There are people I want to produce and I want to shoot more from Italy,” she mentioned. “No decisions have been made and, quite frankly, I’ve never been good like that. I only got here [when the show first started] because I don’t plan ahead too much. I let things take on a life of their own.
“I’m not the boss of [whether the show will return for another season], even partially,” she mentioned. “There are larger forces at work — viewership, viewers’ feedback, all the people you work with and the partnerships you form.
“It’s a collective thing — so why worry about something you can’t do anything about in the moment?”
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