Rachael Ray to end daytime show after 17 seasons: 'It’s time for me to move on'
The "Rachael Ray Show" is coming to an end after its current season, drawing a close to the Emmy-winning talk, cooking and lifestyle show after 17 seasons.
The news was announced in a Friday press release from CBS saying Ray would be "signing off" of her nationally syndicated show at the end of the current season.
"In my more than 20 plus years in television I have had 17 wonderful seasons working in daytime television with 'Rachael,' " Ray said in the statement. "However I’ve made the decision that it’s time for me to move on to the next exciting chapter in my broadcast career."
Ray, 54, said she would be transitioning to running her own production arm, Free Food Studios where she plans to "introduce and develop new and upcoming epicurean talent."
When did 'Rachael Ray' debut?
The "Rachael Ray Show" first debuted in 2006 with Diane Sawyer being Ray's first guest. In 2019, Ray earned a daytime Emmy for outstanding informative talk show and in 2011 she won a People's Choice Award for favorite TV chef.
"When Rachael debuted her show 17 years ago, she was a gamechanger in the daytime space. She made cooking accessible to the masses, taught viewers simple solutions on how to improve their lives and coaxed great stories out of celebrity guests with her relatable down-to-earth demeanor,” president of CBS Media Ventures, Steve LoCascio, said in a statement. "We’ll miss Rachael on the air every day, but we’ll always be family.”
'I heard the fire in the walls': Rachael Ray describes devastating house fire
Rachael Ray house fire, flood
Ray and her husband, John Cusimano, faced devastation in 2020 when their house burned down in a fire that destroyed nearly all of her belongings, including cooking notebooks, photo albums and her dream kitchen.
"I heard the fire in the walls," Ray said. "It was blood-curdling and chilling from head to toe. I turn to leave and there was a first responder right in front of me, (saying), 'Get out, get out now. You have to go.' "
The next year their New York City apartment flooded during the heavy rainfall from Hurricane Ida.
More: Rachael Ray says her NYC apartment flooded during Hurricane Ida: 'Just literally melted'
"There are so much worse positions we could be in," Ray told People about the flooding. "I mean, I'm alive. And I do have a roof over my head. And I do have a job."
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Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Rachael Ray Show' to end after 17 seasons, launches production arm