RACHAEL Ray has left fans concerned after setting slices of bread on fire in a recent cooking video.
Rachael, 56, stars on Rachael Ray in Tuscany on the FYI network.
The chef has sparked health concerns with her cooking videos in recent months, as she appeared to be slurring her speech during the show.
But in a video clip of this week’s episode posted to her Instagram page, Rachael fueled more worry.
She said, “Oh, I’m setting the bread on fire!”
The camera then panned to a piece of bread in flames sitting right on top of the oven’s burner.
“Normally, I forget the bread when it’s in the oven,” she said. “I think it’s salvageable!”
Rachael captioned the video, “The bread burning saga continues. Tonight on #RRTuscany, my pals Leida and Veina are in the kitchen cookin’ up Albanian ‘pizza’ with three different fillings YUM!
“Meanwhile, I’m makin’ mussels with broken pasta. Catch the whole thing (and yes, more burnt bread) tonight at 9/8c on FYI.”
Fans were left concerned for Rachael after watching the clip, as one viewer commented with an eye-rolling emoji, “That’s how you start house fires.”
A second said, “It shocks me she has survived this long in food media.”
A third wrote, “You’re always burning the bread.”
Another commented, “Burning bread all over the world.”
HOUSE TRAGEDY
The video comes years after Rachael’s upstate New York home was destroyed in a fire in 2020.
Rachael revealed the house fire on her ABC cooking show in 2020.
She began the season 15 premiere, “On August 9th, my house burned. Fifteen years of memories; 40 years of notebooks, drawings, thoughts, my life’s work. It took about one hour for this house to come down — and in my mind, it took decades before it was even built.
“In the years that I lived here, I learned an awful lot. In the few weeks since it burned, I think I’ve learned even more. Today, we’re going to share what’s left of our home with you.”
Rachael explained how she lit a fire and began cooking a pasta dinner for her husband John when a neighbor came into their backyard and screamed, “Your roof’s on fire!”
Despite cleaning their chimney twice a year, the fire was caused by a “creosote that spit out the top and landed on the roof.”
She continued to recall, “Immediately I ran upstairs to get medicines, photographs, notebooks — precious things. I heard the fire in the walls.
“It was blood-curdling and chilling from head to toe. I turn to leave and there was a first responder right in front of me, [saying], ‘Get out, get out now. You have to go.’
“I went to get the dog, and that was it. We left our house.”
The chef continued, “My house caught fire again the next day. Trucks had to come again the next day.”
HOME SWEET HOME
In November 2021, Rachael and John gave a tour of their newly renovated home.
“Here we are, we are standing back in our home,” Rachael said.
Rachael first showed off her new stone fireplace in the living room, as she explained her furniture was custom-built to mimic the pieces lost in the fire.
Rachael’s builder explained, “I originally built the home in 2009 and after the fire, [Rachael] said, ‘Let’s put it back to what it was.'”
Rachael turned tragedy into hope when starred on Rachael Ray’s Rebuild to help others whose homes have been destroyed by fires.
CONCERNS FOR RACH
Rachael has fueled health concerns in recent cooking videos.
In a February, Rachael started the video by putting two bowls filled with food on her head and saying, “Look, I’m Princess Leia.”
She continued, “You guys better be ready to eat. Because this is quite a pileup of food here.
“What the heck Batman. I think these should be called fun-jitas because it makes you want to have fun.
“They’re easy, you can eat them with one hand. You can walk around while you eat them. It’s a good time.”
Rachael mispronounced specific words in the video, as one follower asked, “What happened to this lady?”
A second said, “Praying for healing for you.”
A third wrote, “Yeah I like fajitas, delish, but walk around? Nope, messy to eat just as a taco is. A food that needs to be eaten over a plate while at a table imo.”
Another commented on her jokes, “Rachel I’m glad you find that funny, but it’s not funny at all.”
PAST WORRY
In a clip for Rachael Ray in Tuscany last year, she appeared to be slurring her speech during the cooking show.
“Omg is she ok? What happened?” one fan wrote on Instagram.
Another commented, “This is concerning. Something is not right.”
A third expressed, “I love you but are you ok? I’m seriously concerned.”
Rachael did not address the concerns and instead filtered the comments on her videos.
PODCAST CONFESSIONS
On Rachael’s podcast, I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead, she has opened up about her health.
On one October episode, she spoke about an incident at her Lake Luzerne, New York home, where she lives with husband John Cusimano.
“I am a homemaker. I love chores, I love being in the kitchen… I really like chores,” she told her guest.
“What people consider physical work… I like making dinners, planning dinners, making lists.”
Rachael then went on to share her love of “physical labor,” which she admitted has been on pause.
“I like to help carry in the wood,” she said. “I had a couple of bad falls in the last couple of weeks so I haven’t been doing that in a while.”
On the November 12 episode, Rachael revealed why she wakes up at 4 o’clock in the morning.
“I’ve gotten worse as I’ve gotten older, because I feel like time might be shorter, and I want my time to be more, every minute of it,” she told her guest.
POWER OF ATTORNEY
The U.S. Sun even reported Rachael filed for her husband to be her power of attorney decades before worry began.
The 2005 document reads, “The powers you grant below continue to be effective should you become disabled or incompetent.
“Caution: This is an important document. It gives the person whom you designate (your agent) broad powers to handle your property during your lifetime, which may include powers to mortgage, sell, or otherwise dispose of any real or personal property without advance notice to you or approval by you.
“These powers will continue to exist even after you become disabled or incompetent.”
The document continued, “This document does not authorize anyone to make medical or other health care decisions. You may execute a health care proxy to do this.”
Rachael only gave John authority for “real estate transactions.”
Rachael and John signed off on the document on July 19, 2005, weeks before their September 24, 2005 wedding.
ATTORNEY SPEAKS OUT
Beverly Hills attorney Adam Michael Sacks explained a power of attorney could be granted for certain reasons, including if the requesting party has health issues.
“It is something that would be done if you are sick,” Mr. Sacks told The U.S. Sun.
“The power of attorney can make certain decisions. There are certain things you have to sign if you own a house that needs to be sold and you’re, for example, in a coma. With power of attorney, it lets that person sign for you.
“Attorney means someone who acts for you. If I am your attorney, I can go to court and act for you. He would make the decision if she’s unable to.”
He continued, “It’s not common. One of the reasons is when you know you have a problem, like you’re sick or getting older.
“It has to be someone you completely trust, like a spouse. You would have them make decisions as though it were you.”
Outside of health reasons, Mr. Sacks said power of attorney could be for financial help.
He explained her potential reasoning, “I’m a chef, I can’t deal with money, I trust my husband or lawyer, he can take care of it.”
RACHAEL’S CAREER
Rachael appeared on ABC’s Rachael Ray Show from 2006 to 2023.
Rachael left the show to launch her own production company, Free Food Studios.
She also runs the nonprofit organization Yum-o!, which helps kids and families develop healthy relationships with food.
She currently stars on FYI’s Rachael Ray in Tuscany and Rachael Ray’s Meals in Minutes.
