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Rachel Ray Meets Namesake On TV

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By GEORGE WILKENS gwilkens@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2009

PLANT CITY - Pediatrician Rachel Ray of Plant City has crossed paths with her famous namesake in a most unique way.

Producers of the nationally syndicated daytime television cooking program flew the doctor to New York last month to be part of the "Rachael Ray" show.

The amusing piece is simply to demonstrate "What is it like to have the name Rachel Ray?" Ray said.

"They flew me up there, and they came down and filmed for a day here," she said.

Although the Rays spell their first names differently, the show's staff found the one in Plant City through an online search. After calling her, they checked further and found 100 more with the name from all walks of life. The number of show participants was culled to her and two other medical professionals, a nurse and a speech pathologist.

The video screened before the host interviews Ray in front of the live studio audience includes scenes shot at the pediatrician's Lakeland medical office and her Plant City home. "It's amazing how much effort they put into five minutes of tape," Ray said.

The production crew even followed her to dine at Napin Thai restaurant, 2410 James L. Redman Parkway. "They wanted to get a picture of me swiping a credit card" in hopes the cashier would notice her celebrity name.

Waitress/cashier Orapan "Mee" Latthipromma recognized Ray as a regular customer but had not known her by name.

"I was really surprised" to see the celebrity name. "I looked at the card; well, could it be? But I knew in back of my mind it wasn't," she said.

The comical double-take is not uncommon, Ray said. "They swipe your card, and they look at the name; they look at you, and they look at the name," Ray said.

"When your name is that of a celebrity, funny things sometimes happen to you," she said.

"Like once when I went on the airplane, I went to check in and they were all disappointed. Everyone was waiting for Rachael Ray" the TV star.

"It's my married name. I wasn't born Rachel Ray," said the former Rachel Pennell. Her husband, William, a pediatrician at Plant City's South Florida Baptist Hospital, accompanied her to New York. They have four children.

The 41-year-old said she looks nothing like TV's Rachael Ray but has been a fan of the TV cooking host since the earliest days of her Food Network show, which predates the syndicated version.

Soon after those first programs aired, a friend informed Ray, "There's a girl on the cooking channel with your name." Ray soon began watching. "When I was on maternity leave I watched a lot because I like they way she cooks," Ray added.

The live audience portion of "Rachael Ray" was part of a daylong taping of three hour-long shows before two audiences. Prior to taping, producers reviewed with Ray the questions the host would ask her during the taping. Ray said she was "surprised how staged it all is."

Ray's complimentary two-day stay in "absolutely freezing" New York ended Jan. 14, when she flew home the night before US Airways Flight 1549 made its miraculous crash landing in the Hudson River.

Hallie Goldfarb, a spokeswoman for the syndicated program, said three women for the "Real Life Rachael Ray" segment were located through Internet research and people contacting the show's Web site. Goldfarb said last week the air date for the segment has not yet been scheduled. Producers promised to alert Ray once the air date is determined. "Rachael Ray" airs at 2 p.m., weekdays on WFLA, Channel 8.

"It's like having a little taste of stardom without being a star," Ray said of her name.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4433.

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