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!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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.

Follow Kelly on Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/kellyrizzo/?hl=en

Visit Kelly’s Kitchen- https://kelly-rizzo.com/

Join Comfort Club:

https://www.comfortclubonline.com/

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Do you believe in signs from loved ones who've passed? Kelly never really did. It felt a little woo woo, not really her thing. But after losing Bob, she had a few experiences she genuinely cannot explain, and she's sharing all of them in this episode.

Three stories. The doves that appeared over Bob's funeral with no explanation (Lori Loughlin was there and assumed they were hired), the wooden figurine she found on the mantel of the very first house she toured after Bob passed (the same obscure, handcrafted figurine Bob kept on his nightstand for years), and the one that still gives her chills: the night Kelly thought she was having a stroke and was crying out to Bob's photo in tears, begging him to help her. What her two-year-old niece said to her sister in Chicago the very next morning, completely unprompted, with no one having told her a thing... you explain it, because Kelly can't.

She's not here to convince anyone. She knows some people reach hard for signs and see them everywhere. But these are the ones that came and smacked her in the face, and she couldn't call them coincidences if she tried.

After listening, Kelly wants to hear from YOU. Have you had a sign from someone you lost? Or do you think it's all just a coincidence?

Also please please follow, rate, and review Comfort Food! It will be so appreciated!

Find her on Instagram @kellyrizzo and keep the conversation going.

This episode is sponsored by Marconi Foods- The world's greatest Giardiniera. A TRUE Chicago staple! Use code KELLY for 15% off at marconi-foods.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What actually keeps a long distance friendship alive for over two decades? Kelly is joined by her absolute ride-or-die, her best friend Aggie, who flew in from Chicago for this one, and they are getting into all of it.

These two met in the early 2000s on the Chicago club scene and have now survived a coast-to-coast move, heartbreaks, a loss, cancer scares, and somewhere along the way, a whole lot of matching tattoos. In this episode, they share the real, practical things that have kept their friendship not just intact but genuinely thriving for 23 years, including nine of them with 2,000 miles in between.

You'll hear about the importance of stating your intention out loud, why it doesn't have to be 50/50 (just mutual), the power of a FaceTime hit over morning coffee, always having something on the calendar, showing up for the big moments whether they're happy or devastating, and creating your own little rituals that make the friendship feel like home no matter the distance.

This one is warm, funny, and honestly a little emotional. Aggie flew out here and she delivered.

Follow Kelly on Instagram: @KellyRizzo

A special thank you to Home Run Inn Pizza for sponsoring this episode. You can learn more about Home Run Inn (the greatest frozen pizza on Earth) here: https://www.homeruninnpizza.com/

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Four years ago, on the night Bob passed away, two women Kelly barely knew showed up at her front door and said, "Where's the kitchen?" They spent the rest of the night doing Kelly's dishes, taking out the trash, and passing out waters to everyone in her house. Kelly has been telling that story ever since, and today she finally gets to tell it WITH them.

Elisha Krauss and Heather Cooney join Kelly for a conversation that is going to genuinely change the way you show up for people. They get into what made them decide to come over that night, why the most powerful thing you can do for someone who is grieving has nothing to do with finding the right words, and how even near-strangers can make one of the biggest impacts of someone's entire grief journey.

They also get practical: meal trains, what to send, what absolutely NOT to do (please stop asking "how are you?"), the dish return situation nobody talks about, and how to use your own specific skills to show up for someone going through any kind of hard season, whether that's loss, divorce, illness, or something else entirely. If you have someone in your life who is hurting, or if you've ever frozen up and done nothing because you didn't know what to do, this one is for you.

This episode was kindly sponsored by Lifeway Foods. Learn more about Lifeway here! https://lifewaykefir.com/

Follow Elisha here: https://www.instagram.com/elishakrauss/?hl=en

Follow Kelly on Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/kellyrizzo/?hl=en

Listen on Apple Podcasts-https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/comfort-food-with-kelly-rizzo/id1716987177

Listen on Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/5PW46ZYYpLlUCRPWn0Vfm7?si=100c49d2f5f64975

Visit Kelly’s Kitchen- https://kelly-rizzo.com/

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https://www.comfortclubonline.com/

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This one is really special. And really personal.

Kelly recently found a grief journal tucked in her nightstand that she wrote in less than a month after losing Bob. The problem? She had completely forgotten she'd written in it. She opened it expecting blank pages... and found something that stopped her in her tracks.

In this episode, Kelly reads from that journal for the first time in over four and a half years, going through the prompts she answered just weeks after Bob passed: the happy memories, the hardest time of day (nights, always nights), what she was holding onto (keeping the silverware in the right drawers because that's how he liked it), and the last memory they shared together before he left for his final trip.

She also shares the lessons she wrote down that Bob taught her, things like always say I love you, order everything on the menu, and more. And she closes with something really practical: what you should NOT say to someone who is grieving, and what actually helps.

This episode is coming out the week of what would have been Bob's 70th birthday. It feels like the right time to share it.

If you're in grief right now, or supporting someone who is, or just missing someone you love, Kelly hopes this helps. Come find her on Instagram @KellyRizzo and keep the conversation going.

Subscribe, rate, and review. It really does help more than you know.

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