Rachael Ray said she believes Paula Deen and the Food Network will make up and reunite.
During the chef's visit to "Watch What Happens Live" Ray began talking about her former Food Network co-star.
"Food Network loves Paula Deen and I think that they were really caught between a hot pan and a hard place there," Ray said. "I think that the Food Network loves the fact that Paula's been a part of their family forever. And that her family continues to cook on, and I believe that one day the family will make up as all good families do."
The network dropped Deen, after she admitted to using racial slurs in the past, during a deposition for a racial discrimination. A federal judge dismissed the case which was brought up by a former Savannah restaurant manager.
Ray mentioned Deen's sons, Bobby and Jamie, both have shows on the Food Network and its sister network, the Cooking Channel. Deen has been known to make guest appearances on both of their shows.
In Sept., Deen got a standing ovation when she took the stage to join her sons, Jamie and Bobby, at the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show in Houston. It was her first public appearance since the scandal.
Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Food Network has lost 6 percent of its audience during prime time hours and 3 percent during the day between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. They have also declined 13 percent with their target audience of 18 to 49 during prime time and 10.8 percent between the hours of 10am and 4:30 p.m.
