Rachael Domenica Ray is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosted the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray.
Other programs to her credit include 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, $40 a Day, Rachael Ray's Week in a Day, and the reality format shows Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and Rachael Ray's Kids Cook-Off. Ray has written several cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006. Ray's television shows have won three Daytime Emmy Awards.
Ray hosted 30 Minute Meals on Food Network for 11 seasons from 2001 to 2012, as well as a revival of the series starting in 2019.
In 2005, she signed a deal to host a syndicated daytime TV talk show. The show, Rachael Ray, premiered on September 18, 2006, and aired until May 24, 2023. Recurrent appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show were used to fuel the launch, much as Dr. Phil's show was spun off based on his own frequent visits to Oprah. The show tapes in New York City. In coordination with the syndication announcement, Ray said, "People know me for my love of food, but I have so much more I want to share".
On January 12, 2008, Ray's television series Rachael's Vacation premiered on the Food Network. The show was a five-part food travelogue shot in various European countries.
In 2008, Ray became a television executive producer of a short-lived Latin cooking show on the Food Network, called Viva Daisy!, starring Daisy Martínez.
Rachael Ray's Week in a Day is a 2010 reality television cooking series hosted by Rachael Ray.
In January 2012, Ray and Guy Fieri were team captains in the Food Network reality series Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off.
In 2016, Ray guest-starred in the second episode of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life, a miniseries revival of Gilmore Girls, as a fictionalized version of herself.
In 2019, Ray fulfilled a long-time goal of voicing a cartoon character when she voiced a character on the Nick Jr. Channel program Butterbean's Café.
In 2023, Ray announced that she would be ending her talk show after its 17th season, and she will launch her new production company, "Free Food Studios."
In 2024, Ray and her show were featured in the final episode of the show The Curse. Ray played herself on the show, with her guests being Vincent Pastore as himself, and Emma Stone and Nathan Fielder as their fictional characters Whitney and Asher Siegel.
