'Rachael Ray' Lines Up Special Shows and V.I.P. Guests for May Sweep Including Rosie O'Donnell

'Rachael Ray' Lines Up Special Shows and V.I.P. Guests for May Sweep Including Rosie O'Donnell

Rachael Ray and Special Guest President Bill Clinton Open 'Pop-Up' Restaurant to Support Yum-o! Organization

Rachael Ray's 'Hey, Can You Cook!?' Competition Returns With Even Bigger Prizes

NEW YORK, April 23 /PRNewswire/ -- This Spring, the Emmy Award-winning, hit syndicated daytime show, "Rachael Ray," is heating up with huge shows and even bigger V.I.P. guests including Rosie O'Donnell's first visit to Rach's kitchen, informative segments, quick and easy recipes and the return of our "Hey, Can You Cook!?" competition. Plus, Rachael opens her own restaurant to benefit her Yum-o! organization with special guests President Bill Clinton and Carly Simon.

On April 24th, as a kickoff to the May Sweep, the show will air an exciting episode with actress Leah Remini, who lets our cameras into her home for unprecedented access as she attempts to wean her three and a half year-old daughter off of the bottle. "Rachael Ray" is in Leah's living room and bedroom, day and night, as she and her husband Angelo put our viewers' parenting advice to the test.

On May 2nd, Rosie O'Donnell stops by "Rachael Ray" for the first time! Rosie and Rach will chat about everything from her kids to her time on "The View" and her plans for the future. Nothing is off limits! "Rachael Ray" will also pay tribute to Rosie with extraordinary surprises from her past! As a special countdown to the Rosie show, Rachael will send Rosie and family a home cooked meal, straight from her kitchen, every day for the week leading up to Friday, May 2nd.

After screening thousands of submissions from cooks across the country, the "Rachael Ray" production team has narrowed the field to five finalists for the latest installment of it's "Hey, Can You Cook?!" competition. The show will air the first of the four part series on Monday, April 28th with one cook getting voted off every week, until the finale on May 19th. The winning cook will receive an extensive chef's kitchen makeover with professional Viking(R) appliances and Silestone(R) counter-tops, plus the opportunity to participate in a culinary training program at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu(R) in Paris, France.

"Rachael Ray" is also giving a group of aspiring teenage chefs the biggest challenge of their lives: the chance to open their own restaurant called Cafe Una Notte or Cafe One Night. These special teens will design the menu and prepare a full dinner service for an exclusive group of patrons, including President Bill Clinton and Carly Simon. The "Rachael Ray" show will air a special episode dedicated to the opening of Cafe Una Notte on Wednesday May 7, 2008.

Big events and contests are only part of "Rachael Ray's" biggest May Sweep ever. The show is also welcoming V.I.P. celebrity guests; including, Barack and Michelle Obama, Regis Philbin, Maria Shriver, Patrick Dempsey, Valerie Bertinelli, Clay Aiken, Mario Batali, Ty Pennington, Michael Buble, Gordon Ramsay, "Ugly Betty's" Eric Mabius, Mary J. Blige, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Carrie Ann Inaba, the Jonas Brothers' mother and chef Ming Tsai.

About the Rachael Ray Show

The daily, one-hour syndicated "Rachael Ray" show, appears in more than 194 markets representing 99% of the country and has been cleared through 2010. Taped in front of a live studio audience in New York City, "Rachael Ray" is distributed and produced by CBS Television Distribution in association with Harpo Productions, Scripps Networks and Watch Entertainment. Janet Annino is executive producer. CBS Television Distribution is a unit of CBS Corp. For more information, please visit http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: CBS Television Distribution

CONTACT: Charlie Dougiello, Director, +1-917-332-3154,
cdougiello@kingworld.com; or Lauren Nowell, Manager, +1-917-332-3156,
lnowell@kingworld.com, both of Publicity for Rachael Ray, for CBS Television
Distribution

Web site:

http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/

-------
Profile: intent