Rachael Ray Says She Was 'Bashed' for Choosing Not to Have Kids

Rachael Ray John Nacion/Startraks

is a proud mother to her fur babies.

Ray, 56, and celebrity trainer opened up about their respective decisions to not have kids on the Tuesday, November 12, episode of her “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” podcast. “I choose never to have children. God love all the people that have kids,” Harper, 59, stated, to which Ray replied, “Me too! And boy, did I get bashed for it over the decades.”

Harper recalled growing up during a time when “it was very uncommon for queer people to have kids.” Instead, he chooses to “put all that kind of unconditional love into my dogs.” He added: “What my dogs teach me on a daily basis is that unconditional love.”

Ray agreed with her guest’s comments, joking that pets “never talk back” and “always want to hug you.” She continued: “I’ve seen you with your dogs. I’ve known you [for] a long time. And it’s just such a beautiful circle of love, to see you with them. … It just brings you a ray of light.”

Related: Everything Rachael Ray and Husband John Cusimano Have Said About Each OtherOver the past few decades, Rachael Ray has made a name for herself on TV and in the kitchen — but when it comes to her home life, it’s clear that she’s not a one-man band. The esteemed chef has been married to musician and entertainment lawyer John Cusimano since 2005. In almost 20 years […]

Ray noted that pets have helped her work through “dark days,” stating, “For me, if I have the absolute worst day or I’m sick as a dog … the thing that makes me feel best is to go home and literally climb into bed under a blanket with my dog.”

Ray shares her adorable pup Bella Boo Blue with her husband, , whom she wed in 2005. She adopted Bella in June 2020, one month after the death of her beloved dog Isaboo. “Our beloved Isaboo passed today in her backyard in the sun in the Adirondack Mountains in New York. In our arms. Peacefully,” Ray announced in a May 2020 Instagram post while also encouraging fans to take in animals of their own.

Rachael Ray with her dog Bella Boo Blue. Courtesy of Rachael Ray/Instagram

“We’ll miss her sense of humor. Her Wile E. Coyote-ness. Her energy and her game-on attitude. She was a fighter. … Our life will be a little less sweet without our Isaboo,” she wrote at the time.

During Tuesday’s podcast, Ray said she doesn’t “understand” why people wouldn’t want to incorporate a pet into their lives. “It just makes you happier and better and you have all this love in your life all the time, no matter what,” she stated.

Harper then joked, “I might even judge people a little bit if they don’t have dogs in their home.”

Related: Rachael Ray, John Cusimano 'Stay in Separate Corners' When They Need 'Space'Rachael Ray is continuing to offer an honest look into her marriage to John Cusimano. During the Tuesday, October 29, episode of her “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” podcast, Ray, 56, told guest Billy Crudup about the secret to a successful relationship. “I am very wildly, wildly, wildly lucky that I have my husband,” she […]

Over the years, Ray has spoken out about why she chose not to have kids, often citing her busy schedule as playing a big role in her decision.

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“I don’t have time,” she told People in May 2007. “I work too much to be an appropriate parent. I feel like a bad mom to my dog some days because I’m just not here enough. I just feel like I would do a bad job if I took the time to literally give birth to a kid right now and try and juggle everything I’m doing.”

John Cusimano and Rachael Ray with their dog Bella Boo Blue. Courtesy of Rachael Ray/Instagram

Ray recently shared insight into her and Cusimano’s marriage during the November 5 episode of her podcast. “My husband and I didn’t get married until very late in life [at] 37 and 38 years old, but it was very important to me that I marry him because I thought this person could be a true partner in what I believe in and helping people,” she told listeners. “And building, not a business, but a community.”

She went on to gush: “We balance each other in a weird way. … We allow each other to be open to different worlds. I also think it’s fun to be able to get out thoughts, truthfully.”

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