Iron Chef not so fun for Ray

Last night as I was flipping through channels, I came across Chefography on the Food Network.
It's a Biography type TV show and the topic was Rachael Ray.
I stopped flipping - not because I'm a big Ray fan - but because she was talking about her appearance on "Iron Chef America." I just happened to be at that taping last January with News Journal photographer Suchat Pederson.
Ray teamed with Mario Batali for a grudge match against Bobby Flay and Giada De Laurentiis.
Ray said it was the worst experience ever - and I don't think she was kidding.
She and De Laurentiis - who is teeny-weeny thin and even more beautiful in real life - both looked frazzled and flustered during and after the cooking competition. During the taping, I kept waiting for the cooks to take a "commercial break" but it really was an hour of fast-paced cooking. Afterward, I was talking to Flay and De Laurentiis and said how I was surpised that there was no breaks.
"Please tell people that," Flay said. "No one believes me when I say I'm really cooking for an hour."
Not all of the comments of the judges made it on TV. Some were brutally honest and you could see their remarks hurt some feelings. At one point, one guy told Ray her pasta was tough. Her smile fell and said, "Sorry, I undercooked your pasta."
Ray had the last laugh, though, that show was most-watched Food Network telecast ever, with 2.7 million viewers.