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Rosie O’Donnell reveals that the most “surprising” guest from her talk show days was Designing Women’s Delta Burke, back in 1996
The former talk show host remembers how Burke asked if she wanted to hang out after the taping and they had Chinese food together
As for the “best guest,” O’Donnell says it’s Martin Short: “He’ll make you die laughing”
Sure, Rosie O’Donnell interviewed some of the biggest names in showbiz as host of her talk show back in the late nineties: Tom Cruise, her pal Madonna and her idol, Barbra Streisand (“the biggest star of my life” she says) but ask her for the most surprising, and she says, “I would say Delta Burke.”
As O’Donnell, 64, recalls: “Delta Burke was so kind and so nice and so funny. And she’s the only person in the history of the show who said to me, ‘What are you doing tonight for dinner?’ And I said, ‘It’s just me and my kid. We’re going to probably order in Chinese food.”
Burke, now 69, who appeared on the show in 1996, was the breakout Emmy-nominated star from the hit sitcom Designing Women, where she played fan favorite, sassy Suzanne Sugarbaker. As O’Donnell recalls, “She’s like, ‘Could I come over? I have nothing to do.’ And so, Delta Burke and I hung out with my kid, eating Chinese food from Ollie’s in New York. And I just thought that was so unbelievable that she was so gregarious and connected and sweet. And it was just a calm, loving night at home.”
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O’Donnell, who moved to Ireland in early 2025, is back in New York with her new one-woman show, Common Knowledge, an intimate show about family—the one she came from in Commack, Long Island and the one she raised as a mom to five kids.
As the host of The Rosie O’Donnell Show from 1996 to 2002, O’Donnell’s gift of gab and ability to break into song, especially when it came to a sitcom theme song or vintage commercial jingle, earned her the nickname, the Queen of Nice.
Rosie O’Donnell in her shoot for PEOPLE.Credit: Allison Michael Orenstein
As for the “best guest,” she says, “The best guest is Martin Short. Because all you have to do to Martin Short is to say, ‘Hi, Marty’ and then he’ll make you die laughing. He’s one of the nicest guys in showbiz too.”
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