RACHAEL Ray spoke out about her unlikely friendship with chef Anthony Bourdain.
The Food Network star recently promoted her new show, Meals in Minutes, and said Anthony hated her at first.
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Rachael faced backlash over her new show as fans thought it was too similar to her previous show, 30 Minute Meals.
The star admitted there wasn’t much of a difference to the publication, Appetito Magazine.
“It isn’t. I just try to make people happy and to make them believe in themselves,” she responded when asked if the shows are different.
“All I want people to know is that anybody can do this stuff. All you have to do is believe in you. And anybody can go anywhere in the whole world if they just go make dinner.
Rachael then touched on receiving hate online and said she had an “entire platform online dedicated to hating [her].”
“I don’t think there’s anything else to life except making it accessible to each other. That’s the whole point. We’re supposed to move forward by learning to listen and love each other,” she contined.
“A man who hated me more than anybody on the planet Earth was Tony Bourdain, and we ended up not friends but friendly.”
Rachael then explained that Anthony, who she referred to as Tony, confronted her about his dislike.
“He was writing about me and about how much he disliked me, but I booked a band that he liked at the music festival we were producing at South by Southwest.
“He said, ‘I don’t know whether to kick a puppy or send her a fruit basket, but she has good taste in music,'” she continued.
“I asked my boss at the time to send the largest fruit basket in the world to Tony Bourdain with a note ‘Just trying to save a puppy.'”
Rachael explained that Anthony wrote an open letter to her and said he gave her no reason but to hate him.
“But he came home late one night with his very tired daughter in his arms, and there was no food in their house, but there was a basket of fruit with cheese and crackers and snacks,” Rachael explained.
“He ended the post with ‘I guess I give up.'”
The next time the pair saw each other, Anthony bent down and gave Rachael a kiss on her cheek.
“I burst into tears,” Rachael concluded.
Anthony passed away in June 2018 after he took his own life while filming his CNN show, Parts Unknown.
Rachael and Anthony shared an amicable relationship following the initial tension they first suffered.
DISASTER STREAM
Before the interview, fans were left confused at how to access Rachael’s show.
Early last year, Rachael announced her self-titled talk show was ending after 17 seasons.
Since then, fans have been waiting for the TV personality to return with a new series.
That day arrived on Monday with the premiere of her show, Rachael Ray’s Meals in Minutes.
A man who hated me more than anybody on the planet Earth was Tony Bourdain, and we ended up not friends but friendly
Rachael Ray
The show had switched onto FYI Network instead of the Food Network.
Fans commented on Rachael’s social media posts to admit they had never heard of the channel and didn’t know how to find it.
“Glad I am not the only one who couldn’t figure out where the fyi channel is,” one fan wrote on Rachael’s Facebook post.
“I searched and although I get most channels here on satellite there’s not FYI,” a second wrote.
The user added that they “hope Food Network or HGTV picks it up.”
“Why go to a station 90% of us don’t have access to,” a third annoyed fan asked the chef.
“I already looked, I DO NOT get that channel,” said one online user. “I am so upset.”
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