Rachael Ray was recently asked what she thinks about the multitude of people who dislike her chipmunk-like happy persona and make fun of her, and she responded surprisingly well. She said they’re right that she’s a goof ball, but it’s not like she can do anything about it so she choses not to focus on it or let it get her down. Rachael Ray bugs me too, but she definitely earned a lot of points with this thoughtful response. She also said she’s not some svelte model or actress, and that she’s a cook who has gone up and down in body sizes over the years. It happens.

Rachael Ray tells In Touch that she has one thing to say to critics who run web sites like IHateRachaelRay: “You’re right!” In an exclusive interview, Rachael says she understands why some find her annoying. “Most of the people who criticize me are absolutely correct,” she says. “I’m loud. I’m goofy. I don’t make my own pierogies. But what am I going to do, call them up and fight with them? You don’t deal with the people who don’t like you. I don’t work for them.”

Rachael blames the backlash on the fact that she spends time in people’s homes every day through her show. “That’s an intimate connection,” she explains. “If you try to be something you’re not, people will see through it.” She isn’t concerned about how she looks, either. “I haven’t been on a scale since I was 12,” Rachael says. For exercise, she does “the bare minimum so I can feel good enough to work: sit-ups and push-ups. I’m not an actress, I’m a cook. I’m sure I have been five or six different sizes since I have been on television, but I don’t care.

[From In Touch, print edition, March 9, 2009]

Compare Ray’s very diplomatic response to the haughty way that Gwyneth Paltrow addresses her critics - by saying they have sad lives or somehow don’t “get” her unique brand of snobbery. Ray is like “yeah, I’m me, and there’s not much I can do.” She is annoying, but she’s not full of sh*t and that’s incredibly refreshing to hear. You go, Rachael Ray.

Rachael Ray is shown on 10/12/08. Credit: Fame

Talkshow hostess and Martha Stewart wannabe Rachael Ray may have to take a two month hiatus from her show. The National Enquirer repors that doctors found a growth near her larynx and she’ll have to undergo surgery to remote it by the end of the year. It is not cancerous, but could be dangerous to her health. Rachael used to be a heavy smoker although she has since quit. The surgery will leave her unable to speak for up to two months and she is trying to pre-tape shows in preparation. It sounds like it is just recommended that she take two months to heal, and that she may not lose her voice entirely:

While the 40-year-old super chef has remained her usual perky, upbeat self as her new TV season unfolds, behind the scenes she and husband John Cusimano have been meeting with medical specialists about the operation that will be performed before the end of the year, say sources.

The former heavy smoker was stunned when doctors recently discovered a potentially dangerous growth near her larynx, says an insider…

Dr. Thomas, who has not treated the TV chef, told The Enquirer:

“With and growths in that area, there is always a very real concern about cancer. There was obviously a cancer scare for the patient. Fortunately, the biopsy showed the growth to be benign, but it still must be removed so it doesn’t interfere with the voice or breathing.”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, October 13, 2008]

The expert quoted by the Enquirer goes on to say that two months is a longer recovery peroid than usual, but that when you rely on your voice to work you need to take time to heal after a throat operation. He said “To speak effectively on TV as Rachel must do could take up to two months.”

Many people say that Rachael has overstepped her capabilities with her new show despite its success. She was overperky but tolerable as a cooking show hostess and some find her style in a talk show format grating. She tends to interrupt and not let her guests talk enough. It looks like she’ll be forced to listen more in life, even if we won’t be privy to a speechless Ray on television.

It’s a rough thing to go through a cancer scare and not be able to talk much for two months and our thoughts go out to Ray. Throat surgeries can be risky and hopefully she has a very competent surgeon.

Update: Ray’s rep says this report is overblown and that although she does need surgery to remove a cyst on her vocal cord it is only a minor procedure with a recovery time of two weeks, not two months. They say the surgery is “a common in-and-out procedure that she will have in early December and it will not adversely effect any of her daytime show or Food Network tapings.”

Rachael Ray is shown below at the Daytime Emmy Awards on 6/20/08. Credit: PRPhotos. She is shown in the header at an event for City Harvest on 9/18/08. Credit: WENN

It’s a strange day indeed when you can’t watch Rachael Ray wearing a scarf, but it seems that Dunkin’ Donuts knows how to make one good publicity stunt.

Does Dunkin’ Donuts really think its customers could mistake Rachael Ray for a terrorist sympathizer? The Canton-based company has abruptly canceled an ad in which the domestic diva wears a scarf that looks like a keffiyeh, a traditional headdress worn by Arab men. Some observers, including ultra-conservative Fox News commentator Michelle Malkin, were so incensed by the ad that there was even talk of a Dunkin’ Donuts boycott. “The keffiyeh, for the clueless, is the traditional scarf of Arab men that has come to symbolize murderous Palestinian jihad,” Malkin yowls in her syndicated column. “Popularized by Yasser Arafat and a regular adornment of Muslim terrorists appearing in beheading and hostage-taking videos, the apparel has been mainstreamed by both ignorant and not-so-ignorant fashion designers, celebrities, and left-wing icons.”

The Boston Globe

The keffiyeh is generally worn to protect the head from heat. It is not a particular symbol of any kind of terrorist, but rather an item of clothing worn by people living in hot climates, as it keeps the sun off the head (very important if you haven’t a great deal of hair) and soaks up the sweat. It is also worn by British soldiers, but called a shemaghs, because it keeps the head warm in cooler climates.

It became a symbol of Palestine after Yassar Arafat wore it.

This is more of a cultural garment, and I think Rachael Ray is wearing a scarf as a fashion accessory. The same way she might have worn a kimono, a tartan skirt or kilt, or a mandarin collar, without being a Geisha, Scottish clansman, or Chinese sympathizer.

Michelle Malkin, the columnist who got us all talking, had this to add:

“It’s refreshing to see an American company show sensitivity to the concerns of Americans opposed to Islamic jihad and its apologists.”

I know this is going to cause some controversy, but it might have been nice to show some sensitivity to the people across the globe who wears this garment as a way to protect their heads from the weather, not to keep their hair out of their eyes while committing acts of terrorism.

I will also add that I am not American, but Australian, and the terrorists who attacked Australians in Indonesia, and the ones who committed the London tube bombings, did not wear a keffiyeh, so I don’t associate this headdress with terrorism, but maybe it is different to people living in the USA, following the images of Osama bin Laden after 9/11.

“King of Queens” star Leah Remini and her husband have a four-year-old daughter who is still drinking up to six bottles a night and wearing diapers. Leah asked Rachael Ray - of all people - to visit her home and see what goes on with her daughter, Sofia Bella.

Leah Remini may have been tough as nails on The King of Queens, but when it comes to her nearly 4-year-old daughter Sofia, she’s a total pushover. “I’m very consistent; I give in,” says Leah. “My daughter runs the house.” Although Leah is conflicted about taking a stance that leaves her daughter in hysterics, she’d like to try getting Sofia off the bottle. “The problem I’m having with bottle-feeding is basically that Sofia drinks six or more bottles a night,” she explains, a situation that leaves her and her husband Angelo exhausted from handing over new bottles and changing diapers at all hours. Leah also recognizes there are potential health issues. “We’re hearing that it’s not good for her,” she admits. “In talking to our pediatrician, they almost fell off their chair when we said she’s still on the bottle. So I’m thinking maybe it’s not right.”

[From The Rachael Ray Show Online]

She’s thinking MAYBE it’s not right? What the hell! This kid is a pre-schooler, not a baby. And SIX bottles a night? I can’t help but think about how bad that is for her teeth, not to mention the fact that if she is drinking all that milk instead of eating actual food, she is not getting enough nutrients.

The other part of this equation that has me scratching my head is why Leah thought it was a good idea to go on the Rachael Ray show and let cameras capture her and her husband being completely bulldozed by their kid. Apparently, Rachael Ray, who has never had kids and is now suddenly defining herself as yet another Oprah, put Leah in touch with a pediatrician and a mom of three to give her some advice.

After her meeting with Dr. Ari, Leah and her husband Angelo decide to try and wean their daughter. They get some pointers from one of Rachael’s viewers who is a mother of three. “You’re not going to like a lot of things I’m going to say,” Stacey Lewis tells Leah. “Children need consistency and they need structure. This is going to be tough work but we’re going to get it done.”

For their first night with no bottles, Stacey suggests some tough love and says if Sofia has a tantrum they can offer her water in a bottle with no nipple. They decide to give it a try, but only last a few hours when Sofia has a fit. “We’re definite pushovers and at the end of the day you have to follow your heart,” Leah says. “Sofia was crying again for a bottle of milk and then I started crying I think because I felt so bad,” Leah says, and they give her the bottle. “It just doesn’t feel right for me to have a screaming baby and to say no to a bottle.”

Leah and her husband are Scientologists, and if the rumors are correct about the parenting style involved with that cult/religion, babies are supposedly already born knowing everything, and are treated as little adults. But how does that explain treating a four-year-old like an infant? I think it’s because Leah waited so long to have a child, and this is probably the only one she’ll have, so she is holding on to those “Baby” years for as long as humanly possible–which is not doing the kid any favors.

Note by Celebitchy: Leah Remini and her husband are shown at the “Over Her Dead Body” premiere on 1/28/08, thanks to PRPhotos.

Part of me thinks it’s none of our business if she still lets her kid drink a bottle and wear diapers as long as she’s well cared for. Since she invited cameras into her home, though, I guess it is our business.

I really can’t stand Rachael Ray, so I’m going to be upfront and let you know that this entire article will be tinged with my bias. It’s not like she’s a bad person or anything – in fact she seems genuinely nice. But she takes perky beyond the point of self-control and gets all-out annoying with her peppiness. A friend of mine pointed out what a freakishly large head she has in proportion to her body. And that wouldn’t be so bothersome, except that you see the freakishly large head plastered onto every bus and subway station from New York to San Francisco. I’m surprised they could even fit her it on the side of a bus – I doubt the real thing could fit in there.

Rachael Ray’s marriage has been plagued by rumors of trouble pretty much since day one. Unsettling, no? Well generally you’d think “Oh, The National Enquirer just picks on her.” But it turns out they had some pretty good evidence – Rachael’s husband, John Cusimano, reportedly has a major foot fetish. Just click the link; I don’t want to write about that stuff again. I’m not judging, I swear. Just don’t make me think about it. Apparently Ray freaked out a bit during a taping of her show and started telling the audience that her marriage was fine, and she was sick of people gossiping about it.

During a taping of her talk show Wednesday, the normally bubbly cook said that constant reports about the state of her marriage to John Cusimano are starting to upset her, an observer tells PEOPLE. “Everybody gossips … but this stuff is hurting people’s feelings who are in our families and friends of ours,” Ray told the audience on the show, set to air Friday. “They worry about us… there’s always someone that’s going to be telling stories behind your back, but this is too much… the tabloids won’t stop printing this junk until people stop buying it.”

A spokesperson for Ray confirms to PEOPLE that she spoke about the tabloid rumors, and adds, “Rachael and John have never been happier.” According to another source, during a recent appearance in New York to promote her newly released cookbook Just in Time, Ray was asked multiple times by fans if her marriage was in trouble. “John actually showed up at the book signing and they looked very much in love,” says the source. “I bet she finally decided she needed to let her fans know she was alright and that the lies being written about her were just that, lies.”

[From People]

You know I hate to point this out, but just because John has a foot fetish doesn’t mean there’s trouble in their marriage. Rachael could be totally fine with it. For all we know, she could be into it too. Ew. There’s something about her that’s just so wholesome that it feels really inappropriate to talk about that. But it seems like all of the rumors of trouble are based on the foot love, and if that’s all there is, they could be totally fine. A little disgusting, but fine.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Rachael and John at City Harvest’s ‘Bid Against Hunger’ in New York on October 23, 2007 Images thanks to PR Photos.