- Rachael Ray is a TV personality who rose to fame with her quick meal cooking segments on ‘Today’ before launching her own eponymous daytime talk show in 2006
- The Rachael Ray Show is reportedly wrapping up its 17-season run in 2023
- Her husband of 18 years, John Cusimano, has been a regular on his wife’s show since its debut
Rachael Ray instantly won over America as the sweet and sassy host of her eponymous talk show when it debuted way back in 2006. The self-taught cook showed her audience how to prepare meals more easily with her timesaving and cost-cutting tips. While welcoming a slew of celebrity guests, Rachael’s show became quite popular on the daytime television circuit. Her husband, John Cusimano, also made regular guest appearances. With reports of the show possibly ending its 17-season run in 2023, per Page Six, fans want to know more about the man Rachael will most likely be hanging out with during her extra free time. Learn all about John, below!
John is a lawyer and works for Rachael
Born on August 19, 1967 in the Big Apple, John would go to earn a law degree. “I used to practice in New York City as an entertainment lawyer, primarily in film,” John said in a 2020 joint interview with his wife for The Rachael Ray Show website. “Then I met this one, and now I only have one client and her name is Rachael Ray. So I just work on our businesses all the time.” Rachael added, “Smartest thing I ever did was marry an entertainment lawyer, saved me a bundle.”
Although he had a passion for music (more on that below), John decided to study law for the sake of his parents. “John is a musician. He wanted to go to Berklee College of Music and was accepted and he’s a terrific musician and he plays 57 different instruments,” Rachael explained in the interview. “But he went to law school because his parents told him cautiously that it’s better to have a trade. He really is a master of keyboards, every stringed instrument, he’s especially great with percussion.”
He moonlights as a rock star
John ended up following his musical ambitions as well. He formed a band called The Cringe and is the lead singer and songwriter of the group. The band even contributes to Rachael’s talk show! “My band and I do record songs remotely and do videos that you see on the show sometimes,” John explained for the website interview. “We used to tour quite a bit and play live all over the country, all over North America and the UK. I want to get back out there. Whenever that happens, we’ll be there!”
And John loves to show off his mastery of instruments on Instagram! His favorite appears to be the piano, as he tickles the ivories in adorable clip after clip.
John also dabbles in acting
When he’s not lawyering up or making music, John gets to play pretend in movies and TV shows. He is best known for Samurai X (1996), World War Mud (1982), and the TV series, Crashing (2017), according to his IMDB. Of course, as fans know, he also makes quite a few appearances on his wife’s cooking show.
John also gets behind the camera on Hollywood projects. He has credits as a producer on Rurouni Kenshin, an animated TV series from the late 90s.
He married Rachael in Italy
The cute couple took their love internationally when they said, “I do.” John and Rachael got married in 2005 at their favorite village of Sarteano, Italy. “Sarteano is charming, romantic and beautiful, and since we like to go back each year, I bought some land, and we are now building a house so we can have our friends stay with us in Italy,” Rachael told People in 2020.
They even celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary at the same castle they exchanged vows. Rachael told People at the time that there ‘wasn’t a dry eye in the house” among the 100 or so family and friends that they had invited.
On their 15th wedding anniversary, Rachael got candid about the secret to their successful marriage. “We actually like each other, have a lot of the same interests, and find it sexy to share bad behavior, like staying up too late, eating the wrong foods, and listening to loud music—rap, opera and any of our 3,000 records—wherever we are,” she explained to the outlet. “We love being together and not acting our age! We don’t trust quiet people,” she joked.
Why John and Rachael didn’t start a family
John and Rachael decided not to have children together. “I work too much to be an appropriate parent,” she admitted to People in 2007. “I just feel like I would do a bad job if I actually took the time to literally give birth to a kid right now and try and juggle everything I’m doing.”
Two years later, Rachael was asked if she felt like she was missing out on motherhood. “I don’t feel like I am, I really don’t,” she told The Wall Street Journal.