Rachael Ray is putting rumors to rest about her vanishing from the public eye after two years out of the spotlight.
After her eponymous daytime talk show ended in 2023 after 17 seasons, Ray launched her own production company, Free Food Studios, and then penned a deal with A+E Networks in 2024. But fans have been concerned about her seeming to slip into a quieter life after moving to Italy — and after a worrying video emerged on social media in 2024.
Contrary to online speculation, the 57-year-old former Food Network star says she’s busier than ever, choosing to forgo public events because she has “too much work to do.”
“I did an event for Ukraine last night, I’m doing Burger Bash today, I have another huge event on Sunday,” she told US Weekly at Food Network’s New York City Wine & Food Festival.
“I don’t know what they’re talking about,” she added of the rumors that she “disappeared.”
“I work my ass off all the time. And I never left,” she continued. “I just switched over to A+E and new partners, that’s all. But I’ve been working constantly. From the time I left the daytime show, I started writing. I write around the clock, and I produce shows with my friends around the clock.”
“So I don’t know why people thought I left. I guess we did a crap job of promoting it.”
When the end of her talk show was announced in 2023, Ray mentioned that her “passions have evolved from the talk show format production.”
“I am truly excited to be able to introduce and develop new and upcoming epicurean talent on all platforms,” she said in a statement at the time before announcing the launch of her own production company.
The deal with A+E gave the network a 50 percent stake in Ray’s Free Food Studios. Her shows, Rachael Ray’s Meals in Minutes and Rachael Ray in Tuscany, started airing in 2024, with the former having recently begun its third season.
Fans have repeatedly expressed concern for Ray following several public appearances and videos in which she appeared to be exhibiting odd behavior.
Most recently, at Food Network’s New York City Wine & Food Festival, Ray seemed to be slurring her speech in a similar manner to the 2024 video that initially caused fan concern.
But an insider told the Daily Mail that Ray’s speech pattern was due to a “bum wisdom tooth.”
Meanwhile, the chef said last week that she prefers living in her home in Tuscany, which she purchased in 2021, to living in New York City.
“My husband loves being in New York. And I tell him, ‘Hey, go as often as you like, stay as long as you want. I come to New York and upstate New York when I have work, I prefer Italy,” she told Us Weekly.
“It’s quiet. The dog is much happier. She hates New York City. Bella is not a New Yorker at all. So, for the dog’s sake, I spend as much time [in Italy] as I can.”
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