Celebrity chef and TV star Rachael Ray is loving her new life in Italy and says she has no plans to move back to the U.S. anytime soon.
In a new interview with Us Weekly, the 57-year-old opened up about why she prefers her peaceful life in Tuscany to the hustle of New York City. “It’s quiet. The dog is much happier. She hates New York City. Bella is not a New Yorker at all. So, for the dog’s sake, I spend as much time [in Italy] as I can,” Ray said with a laugh.
Ray explained that her Italian home offers a kind of calm she never found in the city. “She has a swimming pool and 66 hectares to run around on, and everything is very quiet, and the air is very fresh, and we have huge gardens and a vineyard and olive trees, and I just prefer that life,” she shared.
Ray, known for her long-running Rachael Ray Show and countless cooking programs, first bought her Tuscan villa in 2021. The move came about a year after a devastating fire destroyed her home in Lake Luzerne, New York, in 2020.
The property she fell in love with wasn’t much to look at when she bought it. “It was just two structures,” she said at the time, explaining that her husband, actor and producer John Cusimano, described it as “a war zone.” But Ray saw potential where others might not have.
In the Fall 2021 issue of her magazine, Rachael Ray In Season, she recalled how it all started. “‘Honey, don’t you want to look at a… house?’ he asked. But I fell in love with the fields and the views, and I thought for the money we’d pay for a house, we could build something that’s really, truly ours.”
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Ray said her husband still loves New York, and she encourages him to go whenever he wants. “He loves being in New York,” she said. “And I tell him, ‘Hey, go as often as you like, stay as long as you want.’”
These days, Ray splits her time between both countries, heading back to the States only for work. “I come to New York and upstate New York when I have work; I prefer Italy,” she said simply.
Ray and Cusimano recently celebrated their wedding anniversary, which she called “the ultimate dinner party, always full of laughter, flavor, and a little bit of spice” in an Instagram post.
The chef joins a growing list of celebrities who have made homes outside the U.S. in recent years. Comedians Rosie O’Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres, along with actress Eva Longoria, have all chosen to spend more time abroad, with O’Donnell and DeGeneres even citing the re-election of Donald Trump as one of the reasons for leaving.
For Ray, though, it’s all about slowing down, breathing in fresh air, and living life her way. And if it makes her dog happier too, that’s just icing on the cake.