When they first met, Rachael Ray thought now-husband John Cusimano was gay.
In Us Weekly‘s exclusive clip from the Tuesday, January 7, episode of Tommy DiDario‘s “I’ve Never Said This Before” podcast, Ray, 56, recalled a miscommunication before she started dating Cusimano, 57, in 2001.
“The first time I saw my husband, I thought he was gay and I tried to set him up on a date with a male friend of mine,” she revealed. “And he said, ‘But I am not gay.’”
Ray was excited to find out Cusimano was available, adding, “Then I was like, ‘Check, please’ and I couldn’t wait to get him in the sack. It was [a memorable evening] and he is a very blessed man.”
On the podcast, the TV personality couldn’t stop smiling while discussing her sex life with Cusimano.
“I had to buy two different sized suits for our wedding from Prada because his jacket was one size and his trouser was another,” she quipped. “I certainly am — I am a very lucky lady.”
Ray and Cusimano dated for several years before exchanging vows. “We balance each other, we always have,” she told People in 2022. “We knew we’d get through this together.”
The couple have faced challenges in their marriage — especially amid the COVID pandemic.
“John and I have always worked together, but in separate buildings. John focuses on the business dealings and all of the different facets of our brand while I make TV shows in the studio all day,” Ray told Us Weekly exclusively in August 2020. “But now we do everything together which of course is a huge adjustment.”
Their quarantine arrangement helped Ray and Cusimano learn about each other. “I think that we now have a better understanding of the role each of us has played, behind the scenes,” she continued. “I don’t normally get to hear what he does during all the business calls that would happen in a day … and he doesn’t see how much work goes into making TV shows.”
More recently, Ray opened up about the secret to a successful relationship. “I am very wildly, wildly, wildly lucky that I have my husband,” she said on her “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” podcast in October 2024. “But he understands I need my space. He needs his space. John and I largely stay in separate corners.”
Ray also admitted she and Cusimano have gotten into “huge screaming matches” in the past.
“It’s very hard, especially for hot-tempered or creative or vociferous loud people to be able to just calm it down,” she revealed. “John and I don’t calm it down ever. We have huge screaming matches all the time, but I think that’s healthy. I really do. And I don’t trust people that are too quiet.”
Over the years, Ray found that being too quiet “freaks” her out, adding, “Let’s just get it all out there. Eventually, I pat him on his ass, or he kisses me on the head, and that’s just sort of it. That’s the apology. It’s just sort of understood.”
While speaking to DiDario on Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, Ray shared what she learned about living in the public eye.
“I’ve never wanted to be someone else — ever. I have never said to myself, ‘I wish I was that person.’ And I have never allowed someone to break me in public,” she noted. “I just won’t have it. If people try to take you down, it’s not going to get you anywhere. You can go home and cry or tell your husband, lover or dog how much that bothered you. But I just don’t do anything like that in public.”
