Rachael Ray was recently asked what she thinks about the multitude of people who dislike her chipmunk-like happy persona and make fun of her, and she responded surprisingly well. She said they’re right that she’s a goof ball, but it’s not like she can do anything about it so she choses not to focus on it or let it get her down. Rachael Ray bugs me too, but she definitely earned a lot of points with this thoughtful response. She also said she’s not some svelte model or actress, and that she’s a cook who has gone up and down in body sizes over the years. It happens.
Rachael Ray tells In Touch that she has one thing to say to critics who run web sites like IHateRachaelRay: “You’re right!” In an exclusive interview, Rachael says she understands why some find her annoying. “Most of the people who criticize me are absolutely correct,” she says. “I’m loud. I’m goofy. I don’t make my own pierogies. But what am I going to do, call them up and fight with them? You don’t deal with the people who don’t like you. I don’t work for them.”
Rachael blames the backlash on the fact that she spends time in people’s homes every day through her show. “That’s an intimate connection,” she explains. “If you try to be something you’re not, people will see through it.” She isn’t concerned about how she looks, either. “I haven’t been on a scale since I was 12,” Rachael says. For exercise, she does “the bare minimum so I can feel good enough to work: sit-ups and push-ups. I’m not an actress, I’m a cook. I’m sure I have been five or six different sizes since I have been on television, but I don’t care.
[From In Touch, print edition, March 9, 2009]
Compare Ray’s very diplomatic response to the haughty way that Gwyneth Paltrow addresses her critics – by saying they have sad lives or somehow don’t “get” her unique brand of snobbery. Ray is like “yeah, I’m me, and there’s not much I can do.” She is annoying, but she’s not full of sh*t and that’s incredibly refreshing to hear. You go, Rachael Ray.
Rachael Ray is shown on 10/12/08. Credit: Fame
I’ve come to like her less, only because she talks way too much about old stories throughtout the whole show. I like what she cooks, it always looks really good. I just wish she would tone it down a little. But what she said was refreshing. I think its tough of her to not care what people think even though she’s very famous. She’s got guts.
she does get points for saying that she is who she is.
Gwyneth, by comparison, gets demerits for being so snooty and self-involved. Sorry, she’s a no-talent who was born into a connected family. Her mother, Blythe Danner, is a terrific actress and a sweetheart. Where oh Where did she go so wrong with Gwynnie?
Aww. How disarming. Now I like her.
Can’t stand her but kudos to her for not apologizing for who she is. As for Gwyneth, she’s just a phony spoiled stuck up brat who thinks everyone has $2000 to throw away on a the latest “it” bag. Can’t stand her.
I really don’t like her. Her voice grates on my last nerve and her recipes are honestly not that good at all. Why does she even have a show? It baffles me. I don’t care what her body size is. I guess I’m one of her haters. She just bugs me to no end.
She is the most annoying person on TV, no second most annoying. First place goes to Katie Couric.
My kids loved her but I couldn’t stand her. At first I used to watch her cooking show all the time, then she became very annoying with her terms like EVOO, DELISH, and that cackling laughter. Anyway, I must agree that she handled the criticism very well and I applaud her for it. She seems to be comfortable with herself and her life unlike Paltrow.
I don’t enjoy watching her on TV, but that is a very classy response. What a marked contrast to Gwyneth “So Sorry You Plebeians Don’t Appreciate My Brilliance” Paltrow.
She just got a few points. I didn’t mind her at first, but after awhile she wears on you. I have a couple of her cookbooks-I’ll cook her food, I just can’t watch her show anymore. But thank you for being a real person Rachael.
I used to watch her but now I can’t. Her voice grates on my nerves. And, her little acronyms for things is annoying.
@BettyB — Exactly….evoo. ANNOYING!
She has changed a lot since she first started out, so I don’t believe for one minute she can’t stop. She was calmer, less jumpy, didn’t fling her hands all over, didn’t roll her eyes constantly and do weird mouth movements while she talked. She acts like a circus freak now, sorry, I don’t care what she says.
Watch some of her old shows on Food Network and you will see what I mean.
@lisa:
That’s really true, I used to watch her when she first started out as well, and it’s like apples and oranges. Or at least apples and less irritating, evoo-spewing apples.
However that was a nice response to harsh criticism. I’m sure she was advised to turn what little personality quirks she showed into a public persona by her people. What a poor, isolating decision.
well, to be fair, gwen did say, I am who I am, I cant pretend to be someone who makes 25,000 a year-they are both defending themselves with the same I yam what I yam logic.
but if you ask me, i find rachel ray 1000 times more annoying and grating than gwenyth paltrow. at least paltrow isnt on 7 different shows on the channels that I watch.
well said evie.
annoying? maybe but then don’t watch.
You know, it’s always refreshing when someone can reflect on how annoying they are to others.
Rachael’s just an annoying liar. She’ll tell you whatever she thinks you want to hear. Today she’s saying she ranges over 5 to 6 sizes. Watch her show and she is ALWAYS a size 6. No one asks, but she is sure you know.
I can’t stand her voice,but I can respect her not being so full of herself. I can always watch her show on mute with subtitles.
I like Rach!
Those of you who dont…I have a suggestion.
DONT WATCH IT! Are you so addictid to TV that you will watch show you dont like?
Get off your a$$ America…list to radio.
I’m glad to see that she sort of admits she’s incredibly energetic.
I can deal with her if I don’t watch the show, lol. I only watched it once for an appearance of the Narnia kids and Ben Barnes.
And she’s from the Albany NY area. Wheeeeee. :)(I live a few hours west of Albany) There’s not that many famous folks from that area.
i used to watch her cooking show back before she was famous… i liked her energy… i haven’t seen any of her shows recently though so she may have become super annoying since…
I love Rachael Ray. Don’t throw any tomatoes at me for that. lol She can come on strong if you’re not used to it and occasionally it grates on my nerves, but there’s no doubting that she’s a real person and makes no apologies for it. Go Rach!
still can’t stand her . . . beyond her being annoying she’s not really what she says she is–“a cook.” I think she’s someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time, and what’s even more annoying than her personality is how many people eat up everything she says, when really anyone could come up with most of the stuff she makes on their own.
I still find her annoying, but I like her response…she never did strike me as the type to care…neither would I, if I had her money. I think she really has a point when she says she is an cook not an actress (I would have said “model” if I were her)…I would be put off with people expecting me to be skinny & perfect looking too if I were her.
As for Gwen, I agree with you Evie, except for the part about Blythe, I think Gwen is the way she is partly because of how she was raised…her mother probably isnt as sweet as people think she is…
I just can’t stand her voice but I never watch her show because of it. Just change the channel and she won’t annoy you. As for her response, classical. She will piss off her enemies with that answer and still come off as the chirpy one.
Hey gwnnie, we get it. We just can’t stand you & don’t want to hear about you & your likes/dislikes. You are narcissic & think you’re great, but, like Jen would say, we think you are “uncool.”
Rachel, you’re missing the point. Rachael Ray *is* a cook because she COOKS. She’s NOT a chef, and has never claimed to be. I don’t care for her talk show, but I like her cooking show on Food Network. Her whole shtick is about making quick and delicious food with ingredients most of us have on hand, and as far as I’m concerned, anyone who consistently comes up with new and good ways to prepare chicken is pretty damn cool.
Loves her before this, love her more now. It’s refreshing to see people who are what they are.
Ray’s cooking show and travel eats were good shows at one time. fun,short,sweet to the point. She has always said she has no professional training whatsoever and has never been qualified for any job she’s had.
She must have something cuz people wanted to watch her-
she has a passion for food,prob. part of it.
What is HORRIBLE is that da*n talk show. Oprah ruins everything-takes a good thing or idea and makes it into a parody!
Rachel Ray up there talking about how many other things she wants to share with us,beyond food. PULEEZ. That is when RR got annoyign to me-i can handle her over the top cooking spaztic-ness. But when she starts harping like a pseudo Oprah,and covering serious topics like parenting and rare diseases,I’m done.
You know what? I think Paltrow is a phenomenal actress;i’ve always loved anything i’ve seen her in-holds her own with great actors. Have gotten so tired of her off screen antics,that the only film i’ve seen her in recently is iron man,by default.
But I don’t quite get why people say she has no talent. She has some-i mean,c’mon,look at the spectrum out there-there are far worse,who are more successful/paid more than she.
@ Aidan
well said! love her or leave her, Rachel Ray doesn’t seem to be operating under any pretenses as to why or how she is a ‘celebrity.’ it is refreshing to know that, despite the attention she receives, she still has a verifiable grip on reality.
i wasn’t sure if i liked her—but i love her food. i’ve made many of her recipes. but now i KNOW i love her. that SI refreshign. way to go, rach.
i wasn’t sure if i liked her—but i love her food. i’ve made many of her recipes. but now i KNOW i love her. that IS refreshing. way to go, rach.
I can’t stand her, which is why I never watch any of her shows. But this response (or whatever it is) is surprisingly refreshing. Crap, how dare she try to win me over!?
‘people are who they are’ there’s a revelation. Next she’ll be telling us the sky is blue and water is wet.
I don’t get it – why do people hate her so much? I think she’s cute – and never disses anyone. I can see where she might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I wish they’d just not watch her and stop being haters. seriously – bad karma.
I do not think I have ever responded to a message before,,but I just have to say one thing to all you Rachel Ray/Gwyneth Paltrow haters,,TURN OFF YOUR TELEVISION!!! that’a exactly what I do when I hate what’s on. I myself happen to love both of them and just wanted to say so:)
I love Rachael Ray! She is who she is and does not try to be anyone else. She is a cook who is passionate about what she does and she enjoys her food! Imagine that? She is not pretending to eat her food and then tosses it up when the cameras stop rolling. So BRAVO to you Rachael for being who you are – and in the celeb world that is rare!!
When first on the Food Network, I thought Rachael was an adorable breath of fresh air. Since then, she has become coarse,tough & loud. Most of her recipes I have tried range from tasteless to disgusting slop. The low cut outfits Rachael wears on her travel shows are nearly as disgusting as the hairy chested, sloppy, unshaven appearance of her husband. Congratulations to Rachael on her success. Obviously a lot of people like her & have made her a very wealthy & powerful woman. As a woman of Italian heritage, I cringe whenever she speaks of being Sicilian. I do not consider her demeanor to be a positive representation of my ethnicity or a reflection of the refined & elegant women I have encountered throughout Italy. Although she sometimes has interesting guests on her daily show, Rachael is hard to watch for any length of time. Maybe I am getting old. I just don’t understand the attraction to Rachael Ray.
Who ever did R’s new look should be shot. She now looks like an old fat Italian Momma with hoop ear rings and short dark hair. Too far from the sun kissed long hair and slimmer bod. I cannot watch her like this any more.
I hate Rachel ray, i don`t like her at all, she`s not a cook is so bad in the kitchen and she isn`t nice, i dont understand how her show is still on the tv.
She sucks!!!!