Rachael Ray Opens Up About Fire and Flood, Plus: She’s Back for Season 16 of Her Daytime Show

The “Rachael Ray Show” is back for Season 16 with a whole new set!

“Extra’s” Special Correspondent Tommy DiDario was with Rachael Ray for a behind-the-scenes look at the studio, and to talk about her tough year that included fire and flood.

Tommy, the lifestyle expert for “The Rachael Ray Show,” is the latest candidate to try out as “Extra’s” New York reporter.

Rachael told him she was happy to back in front of a live audience after doing her show from her home during lockdown.

Explaining it’s a “hybrid” situation, she said, “They tried to make it look less drastically different than my actual home, because this season is hybrid and we shoot in both… People seem to really like that, they want to see John [Cusimano] and I kind of struggle the two of us… but it’s great to have the energy of an audience again.”

She smiled, saying, “I’ve felt wildly unpopular for 20 months because no one goes…” as she starts clapping.

Showing off the new set, she pointed out, “Everyone gets to sit in a sofa now.” Her favorite part? “That whole vibe, making the worlds marry.”

Although she is smiling now, Rachael and her husband John have been through a lot amid the pandemic. They lost a pet, and their New York City apartment suffered severe flood damage, while their upstate New York home burned to the ground after an accidental fire.

Tommy said, “Rach, you’ve had an incredibly difficult year, year and a half.” “You’re right,” she said. Tommy went on, “As your friend it broke my heart between the fire and the flood, but what strikes me is you are someone who has remained grateful throughout everything.” Rachael insisted, “You have to be.”

Sharing what she is grateful for, Ray explained, “Being alive… When I lost my dog I was so grateful that I could be with her the last several month of her life… She died in my arms… I felt guilty and grateful at the same time… People suffered actual human loss from COVID or because they couldn’t get care… and how many people died alone.”

She went on, “The fire, the chimney burped under the roof, that’s just life. So many people wrote to me and reached out and said we lost so much too, I mean that’s just bad luck… The apartment, we weren’t there… Leaks became bigger and the roof became worse and we thought we had repaired everything… then Ida… the whole apartment, was just raining inside.”

But now there is a lot to look forward to, a new season of her show, a new set, and a new book, “This is really a different book.” She went on, “’This Must be the Place’…The book is about what makes a home… Our house was taken to nothing… Neither of us cried while it was happening… I wanted to talk about what home is and when you lose it you truly understand it’s truly like the song, it’s a state of mind and it’s who you’re with and being present in a life that matters to you, that’s what home really is so I wanted to write that all down, so I did.”

Tommy wanted to bring her a gift, a painting by his Aunt Sandy of her and John in Italy with their dogs, including the one they lost.