Biography of Rachael Ray

Rachael Domenica Ray (born August 25, 1968) is an American celebrity cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosts the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray, and the Food Network series 30 Minute Meals. Other programs to her credit include Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, $40 a Day, Rachael Ray's Week in a Day, and the reality format shows Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and Rachael Ray's Kids Cook-Off. Ray has written several cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006. Ray's television shows have won three Daytime Emmy Awards.

In 2003, Ray posed for the men's magazine FHM. Though she was not nude in any of the photos, this drew criticism so harsh, not least of all from Ray's own mother, that in a March 2, 2009 ABC News Nightline interview she gave to Cynthia McFadden, an ABC News correspondent, Ray defended her decision to pose in the magazine. The interview quoted her as saying, "I'd do it again tomorrow."

The Reader's Digest Association launched Ray's magazine Every Day with Rachael Ray on October 25, 2005. The magazine featured seven issues in 2006 and increased to 10 issues in 2007. In October 2011, Meredith Corporation acquired the magazine.