7 months ago
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I’m trying not to take this onslaught of celebrities sharing how much they get done between 3-7am personally, but the struggle is real. I understand that people tend to fall into one of two camps, early bird or night owl, and I’m also aware that some studies say there are people who simply need less sleep. I grew up with one of those people, an early bird who functioned on fairly little sleep. My father, like Dolly Parton (first time I’ve uttered that statement), would wake up in the wee hours and pretty much get a whole day’s work in by the time my mother and I, night owls, would be rising for the day. It was hard not to feel like a schlub by comparison. Rachael Ray is among that anointed, productive crowd, as she described to People Mag while chatting up a new partnership with A&E:
Rachael Ray has been cooking up something big.
Ray’s production company, Free Food Studios, formed a partnership with A&E Networks. The deal will bring “in the kitchen” content and various new shows from both Ray and other talent over the next two years.
The project means Ray, 55, is having a hard time finding a moment to relax — but she’s just fine with that.
“I’m not really good with downtime. I love to work. I love it. I love to have my brain very active, and if I’m not writing shows, I’m drawing ‘foodles’ I call them — recipes on paper — and writing books and things,” the iconic television cook tells PEOPLE. “I don’t like being idle. I’ve never been good at it.”
She even jokes that she wrote “120 pages” of one of her cookbooks on her honeymoon. “I really am bad at doing nothing!” she says proudly.
Ray says she starts as early as 3 a.m.
“I can’t sleep. I wake up at three or four in the morning, and I just start working because I can’t stop thinking about it,” she says. “I’m not very good at sleep. I never have been. Even when I was a little girl. My nickname was Little Hoot because I was a night owl.”
Her husband of over 20 years, John Cusimano, prefers a little more R and R. “He loves to sleep. Unfortunately, once I get up and turn all the lights on and start typing and turn the coffee on, he’s forced to get up pretty early, too,” Ray quips. “He’s usually up between five and six…The other morning he said, ‘You realize it’s three o’clock in the morning, right?’”
Another main reason Ray likes to stay hyperactive is that she’s always curious about trying out new things and taking on reimagined business ventures.
“I’m always game for anything, and I’m a person who’s over 50 years old. I’m trying to still remain relevant, which is an honor,” she says. “It’s cool to be over 50 and get new opportunities that keep getting thrown at me.”
Real question here: do Rachael and her husband live in a studio apartment now? Why is she turning on the lights in the bedroom if he’s still sleeping? At the very least she could flip them on for getting dressed and then turn them back off when she’s done. And is the coffee being made in the bedroom?! Why must he be forced to wake up at the same time?! My vehemence stems from empathy!! Rachael may start her day before daybreak, but she should leave the hubby to his own circadian rhythm. Also, is it me or was that quip about her honeymoon a little rough? Not working doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing. Rachael and John have been married for nearly 20 years, though, so if they butt heads I’m sure they’ll have one of their signature vents and move on. As for her new A&E shows, she’s working on one where she’ll be cooking from her home in Italy. I’m gonna need several boxes of pasta handy when that airs.
Photos credit: Erik Nielsen/Media Punch/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images and Getty
