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Rosie O\u2019Donnell reveals that the most \u201csurprising\u201d guest from her talk show days was Designing Women\u2019s<\/em> Delta Burke, back in 1996<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n The former talk show host remembers how Burke asked if she wanted to hang out after the taping and they had Chinese food together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n As for the \u201cbest guest,\u201d O\u2019Donnell says it\u2019s Martin Short: \u201cHe\u2019ll make you die laughing\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Sure, Rosie O\u2019Donnell<\/a> interviewed some of the biggest names in showbiz as host of her talk show back in the late nineties: Tom Cruise<\/a>, her pal Madonna <\/a>and her idol, Barbra Streisand<\/a> (\u201cthe biggest star of my life\u201d she says) but ask her for the most surprising, and she says, \u201cI would say Delta Burke<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n As O\u2019Donnell, 64, recalls: \u201cDelta Burke was so kind and so nice and so funny. And she\u2019s the only person in the history of the show who said to me, \u2018What are you doing tonight for dinner?\u2019 And I said, \u2018It\u2019s just me and my kid. We\u2019re going to probably order in Chinese food.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Burke, now 69, who appeared on the show in 1996, was the breakout Emmy-nominated star from the hit sitcom Designing Women, <\/em>where she played fan favorite, sassy Suzanne Sugarbaker. <\/em>As O\u2019Donnell recalls, \u201cShe\u2019s like, \u2018Could I come over? I have nothing to do.\u2019 And so, Delta Burke and I hung out with my kid, eating Chinese food from Ollie\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Take PEOPLE with you! Subscribe to PEOPLE magazine<\/u><\/a> to get the latest details on celebrity news, exclusive royal updates, how-it-happened true crime stories and more \u2014 right to your mailbox.<\/p>\n O\u2019Donnell, who moved to Ireland in early 2025, is back in New York with her new one-woman show, Common Knowledge<\/a>, an intimate show about family\u2014the one she came from in Commack, Long Island and the one she raised as a mom to five kids.<\/a><\/p>\n As the host of The Rosie O\u2019Donnell Show<\/em> from 1996 to 2002, O\u2019Donnell\u2019s 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n Rosie O\u2019Donnell in her shoot for PEOPLE.Credit: Allison Michael Orenstein<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n As for the \u201cbest guest,\u201d she says, \u201cThe best guest is Martin Short.<\/a> Because all you have to do to Martin Short is to say, \u2018Hi, Marty\u2019 and then he\u2019ll make you die laughing. He\u2019s one of the nicest guys in showbiz too.\u201d<\/p>\n