Rachel Ray is a proud mother of her fur babies.

Ray, 56, and celebrity trainer Bob Harper spoke about their respective decisions not to have children on the Tuesday, November 12 episode of Elle “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” Podcast. “I chose never to have children. God loves all people who have children,” Harper, 59, said, to which Ray replied, “Me too!” And boy, have I been criticized for this over the decades.

Harper remembers growing up in a time when “it was very rare for gay people to have children.” Instead, he chooses to “put all that kind of unconditional love into my dogs.” He added: “What my dogs teach me every day is this unconditional love. »

Ray agreed with his guest’s comments, joking that animals “never talk back” and “always want to hug you.” She continued: “I saw you with your dogs. I’ve known you (for) a long time. And it’s just such a beautiful circle of love to see you with them. …It just brings you a ray of light.

Ray noted that pets helped her get through “dark days”, stating: “For me, if I’m having the worst day or I’m sick as a dog…the thing that makes me feel the best is to go home and literally climb. in bed under a blanket with my dog.

Ray shares her adorable puppy Bella Boo Blue with her husband, John Cusimanowhom she married in 2005. She adopted Bella in June 2020, a month after the death of her beloved dog Isaboo. “Our beloved Isaboo died today in her sunny backyard in the Adirondack Mountains of New York. In our arms. Peacefully,” Ray announced in a May 2020 press release. Instagram post while also encouraging fans to foster their own pets.

“We will miss his sense of humor. His Wile E. Coyote side. Her energy and her playing attitude. She was a fighter. … Our life will be a little less sweet without our Isaboo,” she wrote at the time.

During Tuesday’s podcast, Ray said she doesn’t “understand” why people wouldn’t want to incorporate a pet into their lives. “It just makes you happier and better and you have all this love in your life all the time, no matter what,” she said.

Harper then joked, “I might even judge people a little if they don’t have dogs in their house.” »

Over the years, Ray has spoken out about why she chose not to have children, often citing her busy schedule as playing a large role in her decision.

“I don’t have time,” she said. People in May 2007. “I work too much to be a proper parent. Some days I feel like a bad mother to my dog ​​because I’m just not there enough. I just feel like I would do a bad job if I took the time to literally give birth to a child right now and try to juggle everything I do.

Ray recently shared a glimpse of her marriage to Cusimano during the November 5 episode from his podcast. “My husband and I didn’t get married until very late in life (at) 37 and 38 years old, but it was very important for me to marry him because I thought this person could be a real partner in what I believe in and help people,” she said to the listeners. “And build, not a business, but a community. »

She continued, gushing, “We balance each other in a weird way. … We allow ourselves to open up to different worlds. I also think it’s fun to be able to express your thoughts, in complete honesty.