What would you do if a DNA test revealed you were the granddaughter of the man behind some of the most infamous murders in American history?

That is exactly what happened to Sophia Maddox. At just 22 years old, she learned that her grandfather was Charles Manson. Her father never knew who his dad was, spent years searching through ancestry databases, and then one day a half-brother called with news that would shatter everything: "Are you sitting down? Your father is Charles Manson."

In one of the most jaw-dropping, deeply moving conversations ever on Comfort Food, Kelly Rizzo sits down with the brave and brilliant Sophia Maddox, director of the Hulu documentary MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES MANSON. Sophia opens up about the moment her father found out, the moment SHE found out, and what it actually feels like to share DNA with a man that the world associates with pure evil.

But this episode is about so much more than Charles Manson. It is about generational trauma, about breaking cycles, about a grandmother who took a devastating secret to her grave, and about a young woman who chose radical honesty over comfortable silence. Sophia brought cameras into her own therapy sessions, pitched a documentary to Disney and Hulu as her very first pitch ever, and came out the other side with a story that will stop you in your tracks.

This is raw. This is real. This is one of those episodes you will think about for a long time.

MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES MANSON is streaming now on Hulu.

Also, Join Kelly in Chicago Sept 10-14 2026 for a full luxury culinary and cultural exploration of Chicago. Visit byline.travel/experience/kelly today to reserve your spot.

Follow Kelly on Instagram at @kellyrizzo

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This week Kelly is going solo, and she is getting real about the relationship rules she wishes someone had handed her back in her 20s and 30s. The kind of wisdom you can only earn the hard way, through mistakes, growth, and a whole lot of lived experience.

Kelly covers the big ones: why cheating isn't just wrong but genuinely not worth the anxiety and guilt it costs you, the trap of getting too drunk and picking fights, the immature habit of starting conflict on purpose just to test how much someone loves you (she'll be the first to admit she did this), why you should never publicly call out or embarrass your partner no matter what, and the game-changing power of seeking to understand where your partner is actually coming from before you react. She also gets into why you can never love someone enough to change them, the importance of putting your partner's feelings first in a healthy relationship, and one of her most important lessons: never shrink yourself to make someone else comfortable.

These are the rules Kelly learned the hard way. And she wouldn't trade the lessons, but she hopes you can learn a few of them a little easier.

Also, Kelly has an exciting announcement: she is hosting a five-star VIP trip to Chicago September 10 through 14, curated with Byline Travel. Think the Peninsula Hotel, exclusive restaurant experiences, chef and cocktail demos, and so much more. Spots are limited, so check it out at byline.travel/experience/kelly

This episode is sponsored by Lifeway Foods. For more info go to lifewaykefir.com. Thank you Lifeway for being such an incredible partner!

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Some conversations you plan for a long time because you know they're going to matter. This is one of them.

Kelly sits down with one of her closest and dearest friends, Melissa Mickelson, for a raw, honest, and deeply moving conversation about widowhood. Kelly lost her husband Bob four and a half years ago. Melissa lost her husband Dean nine months ago. And as Melissa puts it, she watched Kelly go through it first and had no idea she'd one day be living the same unimaginable reality.

Together they talk through what it actually feels like to navigate grief from the inside, including the "10 seconds at a time" advice Kelly gave Melissa on that very first night that has stuck with her ever since. They get into what helps and what doesn't when someone you love is grieving (hint: you don't need to fix it, you just need to witness it), why you should always bring up the person who died, how to text a grieving friend without making it worse, what it's like to go back to work when your whole world has changed, how grief literally rewires your brain, and why both of them refuse to let this break them.

Melissa also shares how her TikTok account has become a space for sharing grief insights, and the beautiful mantra from her wedding vows that now guides her every single day: choose your heart.

This one is for anyone who has loved and lost, and for anyone who wants to show up better for someone who has.

This episode is sponsored by Lifeway Foods. For more info go to lifewaykefir.com. Thank you Lifeway for being such an incredible partner!

Follow Kelly on Instagram @KellyRizzo

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Kelly has been wanting to have this conversation for a long time, and she's so glad she finally did. Her guest is Lindzi Scharf, a writer, entrepreneur, and mother who lost her daughter Evan at just three and a half years old to an incredibly rare mitochondrial disease. Evan was only the 27th child in the world known to have her specific condition.

What makes this conversation so special is the way Lindzi talks about Evan. It is not dark or heavy. It is full of joy, full of love, and full of the kind of hard-earned wisdom that only comes from living through something this profound. Kelly admits she was nervous to have a child loss parent on the podcast, scared of saying the wrong thing. But Lindzi has a way of making you feel like you can ask anything, and that saying the wrong thing is always better than saying nothing at all.

They talk about what it was like to know from early on that time with Evan was limited, how that shaped the way Lindzi chose to live every single day, and what it means to actively choose joy in the face of the unimaginable. They also get into what people can do to support a grieving parent, how to talk about someone who is gone, and the complicated question of past versus present tense. Plus, there is a beautiful connection involving Evan's favorite song that will give you chills.

This episode comes out right around what would have been Evan's birthday. Happy birthday, Evan.

Follow Kelly on Instagram @KellyRizzo and keep the conversation going there.

You can find Linzi on instagram at @lindzischarf

Thank you to Lifeway Foods for sponsoring this episode. For more info about Lifeway please visit www.lifewaykefir.com

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Kelly is going there. She has hinted at this story before, but this is the first time she has ever shared the full, unfiltered details of her worst breakup ever. And yes, it is as shocking as it sounds.

It was 2015. Kelly was 36, living with her boyfriend, had just bought a house with him, and was basically planning a future together. Then the day before the movers arrived, he sat her down and ended it. Out of nowhere. No fighting, no warning signs, just a rug pull that left her suddenly homeless, heartbroken, and starting completely from scratch.

Kelly walks through every detail: what he said, what she thought, the moment months later when he showed up crying telling her she was the love of his life, and then the phone call where he took it all back. And then, four months after blocking him forever, she met Bob.

But this episode isn't just the story. It is also a genuine, practical guide for getting through a brutal breakup. Kelly shares what actually helped her: finding her own space, letting her people in, leaning into spirituality and self-help, not letting herself spiral into self-blame, and yes, getting back out there. She also gets honest about the anxiety that kind of heartbreak leaves behind, and how she still works through it today.

Follow Kelly on Instagram @KellyRizzo and keep the conversation going there.

Thank you to Marconi Foods for sponsoring this episode. Use code KELLY for 15% off at marconi-foods.com

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Content warning: This episode contains a candid discussion of suicidal thoughts. Please listen with care.

Kelly and Alison Victoria have been friends for years, both Chicago girls with more in common than they ever got to explore until now. This is the conversation they've been wanting to have, and Alison chose Comfort Food as the only place she'd tell this story for the first time.

For the first time ever, Alison opens up about a four-year legal nightmare that nearly destroyed everything she had built. It started with a business partnership that seemed promising and spiraled into eight lawsuits, forensic audits, unpaid contractors, permits that were never pulled, and headlines calling her a fraud. She lost her house. She lost her car. Her bank account was drained. And at her lowest point, she called a friend and said she didn't want to live anymore.

This conversation goes there. All of it. How Alison kept showing up anyway, how HGTV had her back when she was terrified they would fire her, and how she rebuilt from zero into the thriving, Emmy-nominated career and life she has today. She also talks about what she learned: that the truth always prevails, that patience is a real virtue, and that grief comes in more forms than most people realize, including the grief of losing yourself.

This one is a must-listen for anyone who has ever felt buried alive by someone else's mess.

If you or someone you know is struggling, please reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.

Follow Kelly on Instagram @KellyRizzo and keep the conversation going there.

You can follow Alison Victoria at @thealisonvictoria

This episode is sponsored by Marconi Foods. For 15% off use code KELLY at Marconi-foods.com

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This one is so special, and Kelly is so glad to be bringing it back.

When Kelly first dreamed up this show, John Stamos was one of the very first people she thought of. He's a beloved actor, musician, and New York Times bestselling author of "If You Would Have Told Me." But more than any of that, he is one of her dearest friends and one of the greatest sources of comfort she's had since losing Bob.

In this conversation, Kelly and John go deep. They talk about the Full House legacy and what it really meant to him to finally come to terms with a show that changed millions of lives. They share stories about Bob, including the night they found out he was gone, and what those first impossible days looked like for both of them. They talk about grief in the most honest way: prayer, therapy, the moment you stop fighting the pain and just let it move through you, and why keeping someone's name alive is one of the most loving things we can do.

And then there's a very special moment near the end: the world premiere of a song Bob wrote and performed on his last tour, "I'm Not in Love with My Wife's Father." Kelly had been waiting so long to share that with the world, and getting to do it with John made it all the more meaningful.

If you've ever loved someone and lost them, this one is for you.

Follow Kelly on Instagram @KellyRizzo and keep the conversation going there.

Follow John at @johnstamos on Instagram

And thank you to Marconi Foods for sponsoring this episode. Find more info at marconi-foods.com and use code KELLY for 15% off!

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Egg freezing has become almost a cultural mandate for women in their 30s. And if you haven't done it, people want to know why. Today I'm talking about why I chose not to, and what that decision taught me about knowing yourself, trusting your gut, and pushing back on the idea that there's one right answer for every woman.

This isn't an anti-egg-freezing episode. It's an honest look at the pressure we face, the way love and timing and circumstance can shape a decision that feels impossibly big, and why peace with your choice matters more than what anyone else thinks you should do.

Whether you're in the thick of this decision, already made it, or just want to understand it better, I hope this one hits home.

Follow me on Instagram @KellyRizzo and let's keep the conversation going there.

And thank you to Marconi Foods for sponsoring this episode. For 15% off use code KELLY at check out and visit marconi-foods.com for more info and to try the new Platinum Giardinera today!

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Okay, this one is a little different from our usual Comfort Food conversations, and honestly? I'm so glad we went there.

My guest is the gorgeous and refreshingly honest Catt Sadler, and we get into two topics that I think so many of you are going to relate to. First: plastic surgery. Catt was truly one of the first women in the public eye to openly document her facelift (plus neck lift and upper blepharoplasty) at 48 years old, at a time when people were shocked anyone under 60 would even consider it. Three years later, she has zero regrets and zero filters about the whole experience. We talk about the real recovery (hint: it was harder than she expected), the issues she dealt with post-surgery, how she found her Beverly Hills surgeon Dr. Kim, what she actually paid versus the insane prices you see floating around now, and where the line is between wanting to look your best and chasing something that can never be fixed with a scalpel. Such a good, honest conversation.

Then we shift to something that genuinely surprised me when I first heard about it: Catt is really, really close friends with her ex-husband's now wife. I'm someone who is close with my partners' exes, but this is the flip side of that story. Catt shares how it started at her son's 7th birthday party and turned into an almost 20-year friendship, and why she thinks the kids being able to witness it has been one of the greatest gifts she could give them.

So much warmth and truth in this one. Follow me on Instagram at @KellyRizzo and let's keep the conversation going!

And follow Catt at https://www.instagram.com/iamcattsadler/?hl=en

And thank you to Marconi Foods for sponsoring this episode! Learn more about Marconi at https://marconi-foods.com/ and use code KELLY for 15% off.

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This week I'm over in Europe, so I'm taking a little time off from recording. But I could never leave you with nothing, so I'm bringing back the episode that means the most to me, and that also happens to be the biggest "audience favorite" episode from Comfort Food Season 1: my conversation with John Mayer.

John and I went through an incredibly difficult time together in the wake of losing my husband Bob, and what came out of that friendship is one of the most beautiful, existential conversations I've ever had on this show. We get into grief in a way I'd never heard anyone talk about it before: the "club" you don't even know exists until you're suddenly in it, the strange in-between where someone has left your life but hasn't yet taken up residence in your heart, and John's theory that you can only really cry about something once.

We talk about his singular bond with Bob, the private shorthand they built, the jokes only Bob could land, and what it means to keep someone with us just by saying "my friend Bob used to say." And we get into John's own take on life, love, and the idea that kindness is something you can learn and pass on.

It's tender, it's funny, and yes, there's eggplant parm at the end. If you've never heard this one, settle in. If you have, you already know.

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