Why Rachael Ray Doesn’t Wear Her Original Wedding and Engagement Rings
Culinary guru Rachael Ray often speaks lovingly of her husband, John Cusimano. The couple has been filming her cooking show from upstate New York during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, often taking viewer questions online. One viewer asked Ray about a specific and sentimental piece of jewelry that no longer seems to be on her finger.
Rachael Ray and John Cusimano got new rings
When Ray received a question from a viewer asking about her unique rings on her wedding ring finger, she explained that she used to have a more traditional combo to represent her marital status.
“We do not have our original wedding rings,” Ray revealed on her show from home. “Mine were a twin set from Tiffany, It was a platinum set — the engagement ring and the wedding ring. Unfortunately, I cook so much and platinum is such a fine metal that it burned my hand and my hand was so scarred, we couldn’t hide it with makeup or powder. It just kept cooking my hand, so I had to get cheaper metal.”
Now the couple sports gold rings with black diamonds, which goes with her husband’s “rocker” persona.
“I had to get a soft gold ring,” Ray remarked. “And I like black much more than I like white, and we’re very dark people, so we changed our rings. … We like nighttime, we like rock music. I don’t mean dark like we’re evil or something. … We ended up with black diamond rings. John had this one made for me, I had that one made for him. His diamonds are inverted. They’re spiky, so it’s cool on stage.”
Rachael Ray was robbed of her original rings
Ray went on to share that she carried her original engagement ring and wedding ring with her until they were both unexpectedly snatched.
“I got it stolen,” she said. “My wallet was stolen. Because it was burning my hand, I kept my ring set with me all the time because I’m superstitious, and if I died in a plane crash, I wanted my rings with me. Isn’t that crazy? So I had them in the change purse even after I got the new ring, and then my wallet got stolen. So that person had a big cash day.”
Cusimano thoughtfully replaced one of the rings, but sadly, it was a casualty of their house fire last August.
“Then the following Valentine’s Day, even though John knows I will never wear them ever in my life, he regifted me the engagement ring,” the Food Network star explained. “Which is now gone because it was in our house that burned down.”
John Cusimano’s proposal to Rachael Ray was a bit unique
Ray and Cusimano tied the knot in 2005. The 30 Minute Meals star eluded to Cusimano’s nontraditional proposal when they were in the middle of moving residences.
“We had been together for years, we had already bought our apartment.” she said. “He threw the Tiffany diamond ring at my head — it’s a long story, but it was very funny. Not in a mean way, just sort of chucked it across the room.”
The cookbook author had previously given details on Cusimano’s method of popping the question, and remembered the stress of being between homes.
“I was crying because the apartment we were about to move into wasn’t ready,” Ray recalled of the day of Cusimano’s proposal. “I was afraid we were going to be homeless! John threw the box at my head and said, ‘Here’s a present. Stop crying!’ I actually thought it was a key chain at first!”
The couple will celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary in September 2021.
