Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Speaker 1: Tommy Di Dario. I hope you had an absolutely beautiful
Speaker 1: New Year celebration. It's twenty twenty five. Let's go twenty
Speaker 1: twenty five. We are ready for you, and I am
Speaker 1: so excited to kick off the year with probably one
Speaker 1: of my all time favorite people in the world, my
Speaker 1: dear friend, the iconic Rachel Ray. Rachel is, of course
Speaker 1: a brilliant cook, a television personality who has done more
Speaker 1: shows than I can even list. She's a badass businesswoman,
Speaker 1: a best selling author, she's a brand new podcast host.
Speaker 1: I mean, I can go on and on, because what
Speaker 1: hasn't she done? So I met Rachel through her syndicated
Speaker 1: daily daytime talk show, The Rachel Ray Show, which was
Speaker 1: on for an incredible seventeen seasons. That's an accomplishment achieved
Speaker 1: by very few people in the business. I'm telling you,
Speaker 1: it's so rare, and I'm so proud of her for it,
Speaker 1: and her magnetism is why that show continued to go
Speaker 1: on and on. I joined her show for the last
Speaker 1: seven or so years of its run, and I was
Speaker 1: one of her main lifestyle contributors, which was amazing, and
Speaker 1: I quickly fell in love with this amazing human. Rachel's
Speaker 1: not only a dear friend, but also an incredible mentor.
Speaker 1: And to have the opportunity to sit in front of
Speaker 1: her and turn the tables on a woman who meets
Speaker 1: so much to me personally and professionally, ah man, it
Speaker 1: was a full circle moment. It truly was a treat.
Speaker 1: I'm still smiling like a dork thinking about it. And
Speaker 1: the nuggets of wisdom that she throws down, they're going
Speaker 1: to inspire you to make the most of your entire
Speaker 1: next year. So let's see if today we can get
Speaker 1: Rachel to say something that she has never said before.
Speaker 1: Rachel Ray, my friend, it is so good to see you.
Speaker 1: How are you.
Speaker 2: I'm great. I'm in Tuscany. How bad could it be? Right?
Speaker 1: I don't think that at all.
Speaker 2: Getting ready for the next run of The Living Kitchen Tuscany.
Speaker 2: We did all of the holiday shows in the Living
Speaker 2: Kitchen upstate. I just also finished shows for so many
Speaker 2: of our talents that we produce with Free Food Studios.
Speaker 2: I work on my own podcast as well, which you
Speaker 2: should do because you're definitely someone who exemplifies I'll sleep
Speaker 2: when I'm dead, so.
Speaker 3: I'm living the life.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 3: I'm having a good time.
Speaker 2: We've had four Christmases so far oo NN's family, my family,
Speaker 2: and two kind of friends family. Christmas is here, and
Speaker 2: we have another one on January first, and I think
Speaker 2: one more after that, so we're going to have five
Speaker 2: different Christmas holiday celebrations in all.
Speaker 3: So we're busy.
Speaker 2: We're busy, and I've been writing for eight hours today,
Speaker 2: sixteen new shows for this next run here in Tuscany.
Speaker 3: So busy, How are you, my friend?
Speaker 1: I am fantastic busy. You and I are cut from
Speaker 1: the same cloth. We like busy, we like working. I
Speaker 1: I know it. I'm not surprised that all to hear
Speaker 1: you have all these things going on, and we're going
Speaker 1: to dive into your whole beautiful new chapter that you're in.
Speaker 1: But I really wanted you to be one of my
Speaker 1: first guests for my twenty twenty five you know season,
Speaker 1: because you know, I love you. I think you're such
Speaker 1: a badass business woman and friend.
Speaker 3: And you wonderful producer. By the way.
Speaker 2: I don't think people understood just how in charge you
Speaker 2: were over your content on our daytime show over many years.
Speaker 2: But you brought us such beautiful stories and really worked
Speaker 2: extremely hard. I have such respect for you, and thank you,
Speaker 2: my friend, for all the work you gave us over
Speaker 2: the years on that show. And I hope that our
Speaker 2: professional relationship and personal relationship carries on for many many
Speaker 2: years to come.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you, me too, Me too. And that means
Speaker 1: a lot. And like I said, I just so admire
Speaker 1: you as a professional and as a human. It was
Speaker 1: a no brainer to have you on to kick off
Speaker 1: this new year of shows. And I can't believe it.
Speaker 1: I was thinking, I think the last time I saw you,
Speaker 1: because life is so crazy and goes in a million
Speaker 1: different directions, was when we wrap the show, which we
Speaker 1: need to change because that's not okay, this it is.
Speaker 2: I have like so many shows now, I can't sleep
Speaker 2: ever before o'clock in the morning, and I fall asleep
Speaker 2: still working on what I have to type for the
Speaker 2: next day or do for the next day.
Speaker 3: So I'm good, We're good. I have a lot of work.
Speaker 3: Believe me, I'm busy.
Speaker 1: No, I know you are, But I'm saying I want
Speaker 1: to see you because that's the last time I saw you.
Speaker 2: Yes, well, you can come upstate and you can come
Speaker 2: to Italy. You know, we're here, and we're there, and
Speaker 2: we're in New York. We're all over the place. You
Speaker 2: can catch us pretty much anywhere on the planet.
Speaker 1: Good, Yeah, good, I'm gonna take you up.
Speaker 2: You a little Santa action, you know, get yourself on
Speaker 2: a sleigh.
Speaker 1: Gladly. I will gladly do that. Rich. I know you've
Speaker 1: done so many interviews or the course of your career.
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people who follow you and
Speaker 1: follow me they know your story pretty well through reading
Speaker 1: your books and through watching you on your show. So
Speaker 1: I'm really interested in this beautiful new chapter you're in.
Speaker 1: And as I just said, you know, the last time
Speaker 1: you and I actually physically saw each other was when
Speaker 1: we were wrapping your show, and for everybody listening, I
Speaker 1: was on it for the last six or seven seasons,
Speaker 1: and that's how Rachel and I met and began this
Speaker 1: beautiful friendship. I am a very sentimental, emotional man. I
Speaker 1: don't know if it's because I'm Italian or from Jersey.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is. But when there's so
Speaker 1: many different life, you know, momentous moments that come and go,
Speaker 1: I get very, very sappy and emotional, and I'm curious
Speaker 1: for someone like you who always has something going on,
Speaker 1: who's always working on the next thing was wrapping your show,
Speaker 1: which you did for seventeen seasons, which by the way,
Speaker 1: is not the norm. That is an incredible accomplishment for
Speaker 1: everybody listening. Very few people have long running shows like that.
Speaker 1: It is a rarity, and I don't know if anyone
Speaker 1: else is going to be able to achieve that in
Speaker 1: this day and age. When you hung up that kind
Speaker 1: of talk show hot, what was that like for you? Like,
Speaker 1: were you ready? Did you have a grieving process?
Speaker 3: No, not at all, not at all.
Speaker 2: I've been working for over thirty years in television and
Speaker 2: I never grieve anything.
Speaker 3: I look forward. I am a forward thinking person. I
Speaker 3: have never.
Speaker 2: Been a person to look back. And I don't grieve
Speaker 2: anything because I don't lose anyone. I talk to everybody.
Speaker 2: I text with all my producers. I send them holiday
Speaker 2: presents for Hanukah and Christmas.
Speaker 3: I know what Emily's up to and what Goldie's.
Speaker 2: Doing, and everybody in my life stays in my life.
Speaker 2: I don't grieve anything because I'm not burying anything. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And that's what I mean when I say I'll sleep
Speaker 2: when I'm dead. I always look forward. I don't look
Speaker 2: back because there's no point in it. And I may
Speaker 2: made the decision to move on to other things so
Speaker 2: that I could do more things with more people. What
Speaker 2: I really wanted to explore was how to produce people
Speaker 2: that I do not think were properly represented on or
Speaker 2: in television. In my lane, you know, it's all kind
Speaker 2: of food related and health related, But I didn't feel
Speaker 2: that so many people that I really respect their work
Speaker 2: and their work ethics and the information they have to
Speaker 2: share and the fun that they can bring to people.
Speaker 2: I didn't think there was anybody that was filling that
Speaker 2: Niche farmer Lee Jones and all of his chef friends
Speaker 2: that go to the Culinary Vegetable Institute, and he gets
Speaker 2: so excited about standing in his garden and telling you
Speaker 2: about seasonal vegetables. Sometimes I worry he's going to pass
Speaker 2: out literally in the middle of the field. And he
Speaker 2: goes inside with the world's greatest chefs and they cook
Speaker 2: the seasonal ingredients that he's been all giggly about. I
Speaker 2: call him Giggles, by the way, because he gets so
Speaker 2: goofy about vegetables and then you have deb who does
Speaker 2: a soul food mash up with all of the cuisine
Speaker 2: from around the world that she learned in her decades
Speaker 2: as a.
Speaker 3: Flight attendant. And then she.
Speaker 2: Got kind of kicked out of that club and she said,
Speaker 2: I'm going to put myself through culinary school and people
Speaker 2: told her no, and she said, oh no, you don't,
Speaker 2: I'm doing this, and she has cookbooks and restaurants.
Speaker 3: It's just the coolest thing in the world. She's a mashup.
Speaker 2: We have Jake Jewish is one of my favorite books,
Speaker 2: like in history. It's hilarious and fantastic. We produce him
Speaker 2: as well. We're adding in some content next year that's
Speaker 2: very exciting. With a couple of in the health space,
Speaker 2: let's just say. And of course I have Anna Gas
Speaker 2: who is our resident Italian, and she does great history
Speaker 2: of Italian food, but like.
Speaker 3: Really gets into the nitty gritty of what.
Speaker 2: It's like to be an Italian and live like an Italian,
Speaker 2: cook like an Italian. And then I have the Living
Speaker 2: Kitchen Upstate, and I have the Living Kitchen in Tuscany.
Speaker 2: So we've got a little something for everybody and that
Speaker 2: makes me really happy. And our partners are truly our partners.
Speaker 2: A ETN, FYI, Hulu, and Disney are our partners, and
Speaker 2: they're literally our partners. Like Free food studios, me and
Speaker 2: my buddies, we are their partners, and content are pics
Speaker 2: to each other.
Speaker 3: And I love that.
Speaker 2: I love that sense that we're all sitting at a
Speaker 2: big table together.
Speaker 3: That's what I think should be. And we don't fake anything.
Speaker 2: We don't like open a door four times or you know,
Speaker 2: start a scene over and over and over again. We
Speaker 2: make content that I truly believe in because it's the
Speaker 2: real deal. We don't work with a lot of script
Speaker 2: or sculpted stuff in any way, shape or form.
Speaker 3: We're kind of a.
Speaker 2: Freestyle, let's just say so. The shows are always surprising
Speaker 2: to us too. As we go through and edit them
Speaker 2: and air them. We're always like, huh, that happened. It's fun.
Speaker 3: It's fun.
Speaker 2: I love the adventure of life, and I really do
Speaker 2: believe you should sleep when you're dead. Anytime you open
Speaker 2: your eyes, whether it's in the middle of the night
Speaker 2: or the first thing in the morning, you should be
Speaker 2: grateful for it and start working. Move your brain, move
Speaker 2: your fingers, move your hand, move your bodies.
Speaker 3: Of course, you know, I work very hard, but I.
Speaker 2: Love having my brain come alive and I'm so grateful
Speaker 2: for every day that I get blessed with that opportunity.
Speaker 3: I just it.
Speaker 2: It makes me super super happy. Nothing makes me happier
Speaker 2: than work. And what I love about be pretty happy.
Speaker 1: But and what I love about this this new chapter
Speaker 1: you're in is you're doing things that it seems like
Speaker 1: you've wanted to do for a while, right, Like you're
Speaker 1: developing people that you find so interesting and that you
Speaker 1: just think deserve a platform, and I think.
Speaker 3: They don't have one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2: I love I love finding someone that can represent people
Speaker 2: that I know. And I think, Wow, you know my
Speaker 2: friends so and so and so and so and so
Speaker 2: and so. We're going to be so excited to get
Speaker 2: to know this person. And my friends that are obsessed
Speaker 2: with baking sour dough bread and growing gardens for years
Speaker 2: during COVID, Now they could see Farmer Lee and all
Speaker 2: of the great chefs that he knows, and they'll eat
Speaker 2: more vegetables because now they're watching all this great content
Speaker 2: from the world's greatest chefs on his show make these
Speaker 2: great dishes with vegetables like that makes me psyched, That
Speaker 2: makes me really excited and happy, and I love the
Speaker 2: work that I get to do with kids. I've been
Speaker 2: to Ukraine six times. I'm planning my seventh with my
Speaker 2: friend andri Fute. We're going to go soon into the
Speaker 2: new year, and I'm planning a kitchen with my friend
Speaker 2: and cobyin Uptown in New York City. I'm going to
Speaker 2: build out a children's teaching kitchen there and start like
Speaker 2: a vocational program at the center she's working on.
Speaker 3: So I have a lot going on, and I'm going.
Speaker 2: To see an old friend from my childhood a boys
Speaker 2: and Girls club also quick into the new year. And
Speaker 2: boys and Girls clubs have been a part of our
Speaker 2: giving program through our foundation for a very long time.
Speaker 2: Beth and Howard, you know, we are so deeply involved
Speaker 2: with North Shore Animal League America. So everything we're doing
Speaker 2: in life, all of our brand is supporting how we
Speaker 2: help people, children and animals.
Speaker 3: So that's going really great.
Speaker 2: We still have furniture and all of our home goods
Speaker 2: and all of that and that supports that work, and
Speaker 2: we have businesses that create and generate monies for our foundation,
Speaker 2: so we don't have to worry about asking people just
Speaker 2: give us a pile of cash. We could just sell
Speaker 2: stuff and say here's.
Speaker 3: How we generate that money.
Speaker 2: It's just all very very exciting this chapter of our lives,
Speaker 2: and I mean our because John, I wouldn't have any
Speaker 2: of this possible if it wasn't for my trusted friends
Speaker 2: and my beautiful, sweet husband who also happens to be
Speaker 2: a lawyer and a great musician. I'm a very good cook,
Speaker 2: by the way, so I couldn't have built any of
Speaker 2: this without him, and I love him desperately.
Speaker 1: Aside from nurturing and developing people that you know deserve
Speaker 1: to have that happen to you, you're doing so much
Speaker 1: giving back and you always have. People don't realize, and
Speaker 1: I mean many do, but many don't because you're not
Speaker 1: bragging about every single thing you do out there for
Speaker 1: so many people. And I know because we're friends, but
Speaker 1: you really do have one of the biggest hearts in
Speaker 1: the world. And I think it's so cool that there
Speaker 1: are people I know, Jake, and I think it's so
Speaker 1: cool that you're investing time and energy in people because
Speaker 1: I imagine there was a point in your career where
Speaker 1: you felt like somebody did that for you, right, Oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, many many. My dear dear mentor and very good
Speaker 2: friend Brooke Johnson.
Speaker 3: Was a whopperdoodle there.
Speaker 2: She's the one who told me I could work on
Speaker 2: cable and I could work in daytime, encouraged me always,
Speaker 2: has always given me terrific advice. Uh, and had my
Speaker 2: my my sales had had my back. Wonderful. But you know,
Speaker 2: my mom, my Grandpa. So many people in my life,
Speaker 2: and people like Jacques Papin Jose Andras people that I am.
Speaker 2: I'm weirded out to call them my friends, but they
Speaker 2: are and I love them so desperately and I've learned
Speaker 2: so much from them about how to live, how to be.
Speaker 3: I'm just overwhelmed. Michael J. Fox the most optimistic person
Speaker 3: maybe ever.
Speaker 2: Uh. Multiple Prayers Presidents that I've worked with, and first
Speaker 2: Ladies Hi.
Speaker 3: Mo, Hi, Michelle, and I just.
Speaker 2: I I am so, so so lucky because I got
Speaker 2: to meet all these people that I just got to
Speaker 2: absorb everything I learned from them and try and incorporate
Speaker 2: that into something I can do with my life or
Speaker 2: my brand or my work. Moving forward. And that's the
Speaker 2: great part about always moving forward, because you can take
Speaker 2: any inspiration you get from a meal, from a person,
Speaker 2: from a leader, from all these different angles, and you
Speaker 2: can pour that like my husband making a cocktail or
Speaker 2: something and pouring it through a strainer.
Speaker 3: You can distill that. Uh. I also have my own.
Speaker 2: Gin which I received yet and my friend Brian makes
Speaker 2: that in Upstate, New York with all of my favorite ingredients,
Speaker 2: and we worked on it a really long time together,
Speaker 2: and I couldn't love him more either. But so we
Speaker 2: learn more about that world too all the time, and
Speaker 2: how we really craft specialty spirits or special types of
Speaker 2: food or special ingredients. It's just so exciting. Life is exciting.
Speaker 2: I never look back, I always look forward. Well, I
Speaker 2: love really long answer to your question, No, and I love.
Speaker 1: I love that zest for life. I mean, I wake
Speaker 1: up every day and I'm not really religious, but I'm
Speaker 1: very spiritual, and I say out loud, like what I'm
Speaker 1: grateful for if I'm walking to the gym, if I'm
Speaker 1: walking to the subway, I just kind of do it,
Speaker 1: you know, either in my mind or softly to myself.
Speaker 1: And I always say, I feel so lucky to be here,
Speaker 1: like to be chosen to be on this earth, because
Speaker 1: I do have this zest for life, and I think
Speaker 1: it's what we make it. And I think we have
Speaker 1: one life to live. Let's fucking make it awesome, right, So.
Speaker 3: I agree with you, brother, I just.
Speaker 1: I'm so good.
Speaker 2: The same prayer I've said every night for decades my
Speaker 2: mommy wrote and through circumstance, she unfortunately left the Catholic
Speaker 2: Church eventually, but my mama gave us a prayer to say,
Speaker 2: and I say it to this day. Good Night, Dear God.
Speaker 3: I love you.
Speaker 2: Dear God, Please givet me the knowledge and the courage
Speaker 2: to help myself, to help others and to do good.
Speaker 2: God pless help protect and forgive us. It's simple, it's clean,
Speaker 2: it's in and out, and it just says, make me
Speaker 2: useful today, universe, let me be of some help to someone,
Speaker 2: and let me be more decent than I was yesterday.
Speaker 2: Let me learn something with my day today. And so
Speaker 2: that's my go to thought.
Speaker 1: That's beautiful, that's so my vibe. I love that so much.
Speaker 1: I think that for you. One of the reasons why
Speaker 1: I'm so drawn to you as a human is because
Speaker 1: I feel like you worked and continue to work in
Speaker 1: an industry that over the years you had to fight
Speaker 1: to earn your place, and you had to fight to say,
Speaker 1: look at me, I deserve to be here. It's a
Speaker 1: male dominated world sometimes we live in especially then, or
Speaker 1: at least the men like to think so. And you
Speaker 1: made it happen. And I was raised by pretty much women.
Speaker 1: I love women. Shocking in my gay man that loves women,
Speaker 1: but I love women, and I in my interviews one
Speaker 1: of the biggest things I get, you know, was a
Speaker 1: question from people is, oh, is you know Anne Hathaway
Speaker 1: or Meryl Streep, Like are they really nice? Because we
Speaker 1: heard they could be so tough. And I'm like, you, guys,
Speaker 1: why tough? Why because there's a successful woman in business,
Speaker 1: like it drives me crazy. Do you feel like you
Speaker 1: ever had to deal with that?
Speaker 2: And my ladies, I've always said the opposite of that. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I've been asked a million times. Do you feel like
Speaker 2: men in your industry, like Emerald or Bobby?
Speaker 3: You know, we're given more than you.
Speaker 2: Anytime I earned less money than a man in my
Speaker 2: same business, it was because I asked to, because I
Speaker 2: wanted more money for the studio or the staff, or
Speaker 2: putting more people in the back kitchen or onto the
Speaker 2: production staff. I those were my choices. I made those choices.
Speaker 2: I think I've been treated very fairly by men and
Speaker 2: women most all of my adult life, and people that
Speaker 2: didn't care for me or my work. No one says
Speaker 2: everybody is going to like you on the playground.
Speaker 3: I've said this for decades. That's grow up like.
Speaker 2: Not everyone will dig what you dig or the way
Speaker 2: you teach or the way you think.
Speaker 3: And that's fine.
Speaker 2: There is more than enough room in this world for
Speaker 2: everyone to do exactly what they want to do, and
Speaker 2: you don't have to be mean to other people to
Speaker 2: accomplish it. In my opinion, so I'm not I go
Speaker 2: with like the Bambi, you know, Thumper's mom kind of thing.
Speaker 2: If you don't have something nice to say about someone,
Speaker 2: shut up, don't say.
Speaker 3: Anything at all.
Speaker 2: And I really feel that I've been treated very very fairly. Look,
Speaker 2: I'm a waitress from upstate New York who ended up
Speaker 2: with this amazing life. I'm sitting in my husband's studio
Speaker 2: in Tuscany, you know, in my beautiful home that I decorated,
Speaker 2: and I doodled on a piece of paper. I am
Speaker 2: grateful and nothing but nothing, but I have a dream
Speaker 2: life because I worked hard, and I move forward, and
Speaker 2: I don't complain about anything. I really don't, And I
Speaker 2: don't complain about the way anybody treated me. Ever, I
Speaker 2: really don't every bad thing that ever happened to me.
Speaker 2: I wouldn't change one brick or one stitch of my life,
Speaker 2: not one brick, not one stitch, because everything could be
Speaker 2: the thread you pull that makes your sweater fall apart
Speaker 2: or the blanket rip apart. You need all of who
Speaker 2: and what you are period.
Speaker 1: Hmmm, yes, yes, yes, yes, Well I think that's also
Speaker 1: inspiring because a lot of people who are listening they
Speaker 1: want a long career, and not many people can say
Speaker 1: they've had longevity like you have. It's a very difficult
Speaker 1: thing to achieve, it really is, and a lot of
Speaker 1: people want that, especially the younger generations. But now there's
Speaker 1: this world that we live in with such toxic social media,
Speaker 1: and yes there's many benefits to it, but there's a
Speaker 1: lot of gross mean chatter all over the internet, and
Speaker 1: people are always being inundated with opinions. So you've always
Speaker 1: been someone to let that roll off your back, like
Speaker 1: you don't pay attention.
Speaker 3: They don't pay attention to it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have the life you choose. Everybody does. We
Speaker 2: have free will. Everyone can pick the life they choose.
Speaker 2: They can pay attention to them, or they can pay
Speaker 2: attention to minding their own life and making their own choices.
Speaker 2: Your choices shouldn't be based on other people's opinions of
Speaker 2: what you look like, or what you did yesterday or
Speaker 2: what you're doing tomorrow. It should be about what you
Speaker 2: want and need. And also, you know, you have to
Speaker 2: set realistic expectations. You can't say I want to be
Speaker 2: doing this for thirty years. No one knows if they're
Speaker 2: going to get thirty years of anything in a career.
Speaker 2: You can't say I want this amount of money. I
Speaker 2: truly have never been a person that has ever worked
Speaker 2: for money in my whole life.
Speaker 3: Money isn't what matters.
Speaker 2: What matters is your integrity and whether or not you
Speaker 2: actually love what you do. If you're not afraid of
Speaker 2: who you already are or where you've come from, you
Speaker 2: can't be afraid of anything moving forward, because the worst
Speaker 2: that can happen is you go back to who you
Speaker 2: were yesterday, And so what, As long as you have
Speaker 2: peace with that, you're good and you're groovy and everything's
Speaker 2: going to be fun. You have to be a little
Speaker 2: bit fearless. But in the other way, you can't expect
Speaker 2: and be fearless about the future because you don't know
Speaker 2: what's going to happen. You have to be strong enough
Speaker 2: to say, if I try this and I lose, worst
Speaker 2: that could happen, I go back to me yesterday. So
Speaker 2: what that was, Okay, I survived. And that's the way
Speaker 2: I think about it. I think about it kind of
Speaker 2: the opposite of the way I probably most people think
Speaker 2: about it.
Speaker 1: So you've always had that mentality.
Speaker 3: Always because that's the way I was raised.
Speaker 2: My grandfather was my best friend, and my no No
Speaker 2: was my nanny. Really he was my babysitter and raised
Speaker 2: me when I was a little baby, and my mom
Speaker 2: was his first born, so she was always his number
Speaker 2: one in the kitchen and always by his side, and
Speaker 2: they were very, very extremely close. They're they're very much connected.
Speaker 2: And I lived my life basically the same way I
Speaker 2: did when I.
Speaker 3: Was baby two, three, four, five years old.
Speaker 2: This is when I learned who I would become, and
Speaker 2: I've always been the same.
Speaker 1: God. It's so it's so cool hearing that from someone
Speaker 1: like you, because I think a lot of people sometimes
Speaker 1: romanticize the journey of falling into a spiral in their
Speaker 1: lives and having to overcome such you know, hardships in
Speaker 1: their line of work in terms of Oh, I didn't
Speaker 1: feel like I was worthy, or I didn't feel like
Speaker 1: I should be chosen, or I felt like the world
Speaker 1: kind of was against me. And you've always had this
Speaker 1: mentality of like, I'm gonna work hard, I deserve to
Speaker 1: be here. I'm gonna tune out the noise, let's go.
Speaker 2: I love to work, and I come from a long
Speaker 2: line of people that love to work. Like my grandpa
Speaker 2: would work eighty or more hours a week, go home
Speaker 2: and sing to his children in the middle of the
Speaker 2: night and cook all night and have the food ready
Speaker 2: for them when they would get out of school the
Speaker 2: next day. My mama worked one hundred hours a week.
Speaker 2: It would sleep in a booth at Howard Johnson's, you know,
Speaker 2: after twelve buses of Canadian skiers and stuff.
Speaker 3: I just I like to be around people that like
Speaker 3: to work.
Speaker 2: It makes me feel it makes me feel period, and
Speaker 2: I think that's why I love working in Ukraine and
Speaker 2: working with kids. I feel like my life actually matters
Speaker 2: when I'm with people that work hard, fight hard, try
Speaker 2: hard at everything, and are still happy, Like they find
Speaker 2: a way to smile and hug each other and share
Speaker 2: food and love one another. Beautiful thing to watch and
Speaker 2: feel and absorb. It changes everything to be in that climate.
Speaker 2: From the time I was a kid to now my
Speaker 2: mid fifties, it is the most significant thing in my life.
Speaker 2: Even on our honeymoon when we were in Africa. You know,
Speaker 2: you're in communities where some of the community works at
Speaker 2: resorts and in town and stuff, and they bring back
Speaker 2: their money and they give it to everybody so all
Speaker 2: the children can have school books in a school uniform.
Speaker 2: It's just these beautiful situations that I've seen all of
Speaker 2: my adult life now because I was trained that way
Speaker 2: as a child.
Speaker 3: I really.
Speaker 2: There's nothing I'm more grateful for in my whole life
Speaker 2: than the way I was raised.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd set you up for this entire life journey
Speaker 1: that you were on, and it's so beautiful. I think
Speaker 1: that's really cool. And it's evident you hold your life
Speaker 1: so close, which I think is a secret sauce recipe
Speaker 1: in life. It's not forgetting those people along the way right,
Speaker 1: holding them near and.
Speaker 2: Dear, No, I talked to it, as I said, I
Speaker 2: talked to most everyone that I've worked with over the
Speaker 2: last couple of decades often and text and send Christmas
Speaker 2: boxes and Hanukkah gifts, and you know, they're a part
Speaker 2: of my family.
Speaker 3: And I feel that your family can grow every year.
Speaker 2: It depends on you, know, if you can grinch out
Speaker 2: and make your heart tend sizes too big or not.
Speaker 3: You know, you just got to make room for more
Speaker 3: and more people.
Speaker 1: So is there a way over the last few years,
Speaker 1: you know, so much has changed in your life, You're
Speaker 1: developing so many new projects, You're in a new chapter
Speaker 1: of your entire life and career. Is there a way
Speaker 1: that you can pinpoint that you think you've changed? Or
Speaker 1: does change not really happen for you so much because
Speaker 1: you've kind of maintained that consistent girl that you've been
Speaker 1: your whole life.
Speaker 3: No, I think that we can always change, and I
Speaker 3: strive to.
Speaker 2: I get lazy at it. Though I've been studying Italian
Speaker 2: for like a decade. I shouldn't be there. I should
Speaker 2: be done. My husband studies it now too, and I'm
Speaker 2: so happy for him because I think he's up to
Speaker 2: like one hundred and forty eight days.
Speaker 3: Of due lingo in a row or something.
Speaker 2: Wow. I do these lessons from my friend Lorenzo Mararia,
Speaker 2: and they are really tough. He's a toughie and I
Speaker 2: work so hard on him, and then if I see mistakes,
Speaker 2: he sends back the corrections. You know, I get so
Speaker 2: broken hearted him. I let him down. But I'm always
Speaker 2: trying to learn something new. And I love to draw,
Speaker 2: I love to read, I love to write. And I
Speaker 2: was just making notes today on not only the shows
Speaker 2: that I'm trying to accomplish right now, but on books
Speaker 2: I want to do. I want to do a foodles
Speaker 2: book because I love drawing foodles.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: I draw the pictures of a recipe and then I
Speaker 2: write the recipe and I put them in the Christmas
Speaker 2: boxes at the holidays, as you know. So I want
Speaker 2: to do a book of foodles for kids. I wanted
Speaker 2: the Living Kitchen Upstate and the Living Kitchen Tuscany. I
Speaker 2: want to do some back writing about what I love
Speaker 2: about the places we live and why, and do a
Speaker 2: couple more cookbooks along the way.
Speaker 3: That'll be thirty one and thirty two. I think I
Speaker 3: don't know a lot.
Speaker 2: But I love that feeling of a little bit of
Speaker 2: excitement mixed with a little bit of pressure. When am
Speaker 2: I going to get to this one? And when am
Speaker 2: I going to get to that one? You know, it
Speaker 2: makes me happy.
Speaker 1: There's not many things you haven't done, and this just
Speaker 1: popped into my mind. Would you ever do anything or
Speaker 1: do you have any interest in the scripted world?
Speaker 2: I've thought about it over the years. I'm Mary Juliani.
Speaker 2: Always wants me to do something scripted with her. She's
Speaker 2: a little my little firecracker, that one.
Speaker 3: I love her.
Speaker 2: You know, I.
Speaker 3: Wouldn't say no, but it's not like top of my list.
Speaker 2: But please feel free if you'd like to put me
Speaker 2: in something stripped me.
Speaker 1: A shout because like, what can't you do at this point?
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, I don't know it's fun, But
Speaker 2: I friend, I have such an annoying voice.
Speaker 3: I'm shocked still have a job.
Speaker 1: Oh please please? Well that voice is all over the
Speaker 1: podcast world now, which I love. I am a very
Speaker 1: tough podcast critic listener. I love your show. I love
Speaker 1: your show. It's like you were born to do it.
Speaker 1: For you, like, what made you want to do a podcasts?
Speaker 1: It's a very different medium for.
Speaker 2: You, because I believe in the concert that life is
Speaker 2: so beautiful if you wake up in a positive frame
Speaker 2: of mind and want to accomplish something with each and
Speaker 2: every day that you open your eyes. And I'm fascinated
Speaker 2: by people, all types of folks, like I had Rebecca
Speaker 2: Divine on. She was one of the last ones I
Speaker 2: just taped in the last few weeks. And this is
Speaker 2: a woman who was told she had six months to
Speaker 2: live and that was like over seven years ago.
Speaker 3: It's just.
Speaker 2: I find so much joy in learning about people that
Speaker 2: beat every odd that you can think of, and people
Speaker 2: that find ways to make things work when they shouldn't,
Speaker 2: or when things when they've been kicked down a lot
Speaker 2: and they popped right back up like a cork.
Speaker 3: I love stuff like that.
Speaker 2: It makes me super happy, and I just love diving
Speaker 2: more into that than you can do in five minutes
Speaker 2: on a chat show. You know you have very limited time,
Speaker 2: and they're always trying to rush you through different segments.
Speaker 2: I don't want to rush through everything in life. I
Speaker 2: want to let people tell their whole story, not just
Speaker 2: four minutes of their story.
Speaker 3: I want to hear as much of it as possible.
Speaker 2: So that was what excited me about going a little
Speaker 2: bit down that road, is, Hey, let's listen to a
Speaker 2: longer format of people that I truly respect and really value,
Speaker 2: and what can we learn from each other from one another,
Speaker 2: and let's just share that with as many people as possible.
Speaker 3: That's why I got into it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I imagine, knowing you as well as I do,
Speaker 1: you're some with so much heart and curiosity, and when
Speaker 1: you're talking about something, you're really talking about it. You
Speaker 1: don't like fluff. You're not a fluff person. So I imagine,
Speaker 1: you know, like you said, the talk show so fast
Speaker 1: and it's so small and condensed, and your little blocks
Speaker 1: here and there, I imagine that wasn't probably as fulfilling
Speaker 1: as something like a podcast or like this. And I
Speaker 1: feel that way in some of my work too, you know.
Speaker 2: As you can expand you can expand on things, you know,
Speaker 2: like when I'm on with someone like Harlan Coben, my
Speaker 2: my dear, dear friend, and I respect and love his
Speaker 2: work so much, obsessed, but I can really chat with
Speaker 2: him because I trust him and we are truly friends.
Speaker 2: So I can have that real time and share that
Speaker 2: with people in a way that I know, hey, I know,
Speaker 2: talk about this and less about that, and let's have
Speaker 2: some fun. Let's get in there and show people a
Speaker 2: little bit a broader side of someone like that because
Speaker 2: I know them a little bit better. I also love
Speaker 2: to have on people that I've just met, like Rebecca,
Speaker 2: who we were just at a retreat together, a health
Speaker 2: retreat together, and that's how I met her, and I
Speaker 2: just said, I'm obsessed with you. She has her own
Speaker 2: brilliant podcast, Brainy Bond, and she is gorgeous, beautiful woman, smart,
Speaker 2: funny and has learned so much about how to stay alive.
Speaker 2: Quite frankly, the mom of four, by the way, looks
Speaker 2: like bounce a quarter off of her.
Speaker 3: She's so fit.
Speaker 2: And I just find bringing someone like that into the
Speaker 2: bright spotlight for anybody that might be listening, could change
Speaker 2: their life, you know, if they're battling cancer, if they're
Speaker 2: scared to go to the doctor to even find out
Speaker 2: if they have cancer, get screened, and then to hear
Speaker 2: a story like that, I could literally save a life
Speaker 2: that day. I love that too. So there's the here's
Speaker 2: the new, Here's this someone I love and being able
Speaker 2: to talk to that those two types of people and
Speaker 2: share that information with as many people as we listen.
Speaker 3: That's cool, that's really fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that fuels my No, you're doing it, it fuels
Speaker 1: my soul. And that's why I started this show, right, Like,
Speaker 1: I love the work I get to do with extra
Speaker 1: on the carpets, and it's fun and it's the thing.
Speaker 1: But you get three minutes with someone, it's not real conversation.
Speaker 1: And I was craving more of that connection. And I
Speaker 1: often saw people I was interviewing wanted to have a
Speaker 1: substantial conversation, but you just can't in those formats.
Speaker 3: Wait, it's formatted.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, And that's how this show was born. So
Speaker 1: I always ask this question in every episode of the
Speaker 1: show based off the title of this show, which for you,
Speaker 1: I imagine might be a difficult one to answer. But
Speaker 1: the name of the show is called I've never said
Speaker 1: this before, And that was born from having real moments
Speaker 1: because I was tired of the fake I was tired
Speaker 1: of the clickbait. I was tired of the headlines. I
Speaker 1: wanted real moments and to give people the space to
Speaker 1: say something whatever that question means to them that they
Speaker 1: maybe haven't had the chance to talk about in a
Speaker 1: two minute or six minute interview before.
Speaker 3: Being someone there's anything left time.
Speaker 1: I know, I'm like being someone that's talked for decades now.
Speaker 1: I don't know, But is there anything you can think
Speaker 1: of that you maybe don't always get the chance to
Speaker 1: say whatever that means to you.
Speaker 3: Well, I think I've.
Speaker 2: Already kind of said it just in chatting with you,
Speaker 2: because I love you and trust you so much. But
Speaker 2: I've never wanted to be someone else ever. I have
Speaker 2: never said to myself I wish I were that person.
Speaker 2: And I have never allowed someone to break me in
Speaker 2: public or in an interview. I just won't have it.
Speaker 2: I just won't have it. If people try and take
Speaker 2: you down, it's not going to get you anywhere. You
Speaker 2: can go home and you can cry, or you can
Speaker 2: tell your husband, your lover, your dog how much that
Speaker 2: bothered you. But I just don't do anything like that
Speaker 2: ever in public. And the first time I saw my husband,
Speaker 2: I thought he was gay and I tried to set
Speaker 2: him up on a date with a male friend of
Speaker 2: mine and he said, but I'm not gay, and then
Speaker 2: I was like check please, And I could not wait
Speaker 2: to get him in the sack.
Speaker 1: That's my girl. That's my girl. That's my girl. I
Speaker 1: couldn't love you more. Wow. Well it was a very
Speaker 1: memorable evening.
Speaker 3: It was, and he is a blessed man.
Speaker 1: Oh my god. Yes, this is not stuff we were
Speaker 1: talking about on your talk show. I am here for it.
Speaker 1: Somewhere John is smiling with like a cocktail and hands,
Speaker 1: saying that.
Speaker 2: I had to buy two different sized suits for his
Speaker 2: wedding from Prada.
Speaker 3: His jacket was one size, his trow is another.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, Rachel Ray, Yeah, I am here for this
Speaker 1: chapter of your life. And I hope you still are
Speaker 1: enjoying this chapter of your life if you know what
Speaker 1: I mean.
Speaker 3: I certainly am. I'm a very lucky lady.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I kind of love you more as
Speaker 1: we wrap up the show coming from you, I think
Speaker 1: this is a really cool answer to get. So I
Speaker 1: would love to know. How do you define success?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: That is so different than everybody else. It has nothing
Speaker 2: to do with money. Did you do your best today?
Speaker 2: Did you work as hard as you could? And did
Speaker 2: you share? Did you make food for people that were hungry,
Speaker 2: that are standing in the same room or the same
Speaker 2: house with you? How much did you give? How much
Speaker 2: did you give is always how I define the success
Speaker 2: of my day one hundred percent. How much did I
Speaker 2: give to my dog, to my friends, to my neighbors,
Speaker 2: to my husband, to my family. What did I do
Speaker 2: today that allowed me to share with people is the
Speaker 2: most important element of every day of my life.
Speaker 1: God, that's beautiful. Wow, the truth. I'm letting that sink
Speaker 1: in for a minute. That's truly beautiful. Thank you for
Speaker 1: sharing that. Thank you for hanging out. I don't know
Speaker 1: if I've ever fully expressed to you over the years
Speaker 1: how much you changed my life. From being on your show,
Speaker 1: I mean, and getting to know you and giving me
Speaker 1: a chance and giving me a shot and inviting me
Speaker 1: back and becoming a regular in your family, it really
Speaker 1: put me on the path, brought me to where I
Speaker 1: am today. And you were a person you were You
Speaker 1: were a person who.
Speaker 2: Bring me, A talented person who sees people, who really
Speaker 2: sees people and their their whole self, And you brought
Speaker 2: us so many beautiful shared moments with very very special people.
Speaker 2: You are truly truly gifted, talented, loving, sweet person.
Speaker 3: I adore you. I always have and you know that.
Speaker 1: I met you it was it was a pretty instant chemistry. Absolutely, John,
Speaker 1: You're lucky I'm gay, because i'd be I'd be sliding
Speaker 1: right into Rachel's d MS and trying to pick her up.
Speaker 1: So you're lucky. You're lucky. Although from what I heard,
Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about anything. You're very gifted,
Speaker 1: I've heard.
Speaker 3: I love you, Tommy, and I have such respect for you.
Speaker 2: And I hope, I hope you do my podcast and
Speaker 2: that I can do yours again anytime you like.
Speaker 3: I just of sharing time with you. You know that.
Speaker 1: Oh, I feel the same way. I love you guys.
Speaker 1: Thank you for hanging out, and we might pop up
Speaker 1: upstate or in Italy. Do you well eat your whole
Speaker 1: kitchen out, so be warned.
Speaker 2: All right, but I put you to work. You can't
Speaker 2: just come and eat for free. You gotta put a
Speaker 2: little bit. You gotta put a little bit of those
Speaker 2: muscles into it too.
Speaker 1: All right. I got you, I got you. Oh, here's
Speaker 1: Jill popping it from GMA. Say hello, beautiful face. Oh
Speaker 1: here we go now I.
Speaker 3: Hear you, Hi, Love. How are you guys doing?
Speaker 1: What's up?
Speaker 2: John? You guys we have to get all together at
Speaker 2: the same time.
Speaker 3: Please come to Italy. Yes, wherever you want. Wherever we are,
Speaker 3: You're always invited.
Speaker 1: Italy, You're upsafe. The magic is where you are.
Speaker 3: Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1: I love you guys, Love you guys, Thank you for
Speaker 1: hanging out. Bye bye. I've Never Said This Before is
Speaker 1: hosted by Me Tommy Dedario. This podcast is executive produced
Speaker 1: by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio and by Me Tommy, with
Speaker 1: editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've Never Said This Before is
Speaker 1: part of the Elvis Duran podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 1: For more rate, review and subscribe to our show and
Speaker 1: if you liked this episode, tell your friends. Until next time.
Speaker 1: I'm Tommy de Dario