Television icon Sally Jessy Raphael, 90, shared a glimpse into retired life with her social media followers.
Raphael uploaded an image taken from a boat to her Instagram page on July 25. The former host of the “Sally” daytime talk show wore a black and white sundress with a green scarf.
“Happy Friday, Raphaelites! I’m serving you sailboat vibes,” Rachel captioned her picture. As she appeared seated in the snapshot, musicians could be seen performing behind her.
Raphael led “Sally” (originally titled “The Sally Jessy Raphael Show”) from 1983 to 2002. The syndicated program preceded fellow woman-fronted “The Oprah Winfrey Show” by three years.
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented Raphael with the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Talk Series Host in 1989.
A year later, “Sally” won the 1990 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Daytime Talk Series. Raphael is widely considered one of the pioneers of the tabloid talk show genre.
Former “Sally” viewers had varied opinions about the TV legend’s laid-baid look on the water. For instance, a Page Six reader commented, “Yeah, I almost didn’t recognize her without a microphone in her hand.”
“Everybody looks unrecognizable at 90 compared to what they looked like when they were 35,” another commenter expressed. Similarly, someone wrote, “Well, no one at 90 looks like they used to. She’s happy to just wake up. Let her be.”
In the Daily Mail comment section, people claimed Raphael resembled other redheaded female celebrities. One person claimed, “At first, I thought this was [comedian] Kathy Griffin.” A second stated, “Looks like Joy Behar from ‘The View’ without her caked on makeup.”
A third said, “She’s 90 but would look so much better without the horrible wig.”
However, a “Sally” fan had no problem recognizing the media personality by commenting, “The red hair gave it away.” Another supporter replied, “That’s Sally! I knew right away! I loved her show.”
Raphael turned 90 on Feb. 23, 2025. The red glasses-wearing Pennsylvania native spoke to People in May about reaching her 10th decade of life and finding enjoyment from traveling the world.
“It’s really interesting being 90 because if you dye your hair and you don’t have any veins in your legs, then people say you look young,” Raphael told the publication.
She continued, “And that’s always nice that people say, although why they think looking young when you can claim 90 is beyond me, but they think it’s a compliment.”
In addition, Raphael embraced being “cute again” since she apparently gets complimented for being a “cute old lady.” However, in her view, “not caring about people and what they think is the best thing for getting older.”
Around the time of her 90th birthday, Raphael visited Paris and documented the “girls trip” to the French capital with a series of photos posted to her Instagram account.
“We went to Paris, my favorite city. And I went to my old haunts. I won’t tell you what they are because then they’d be everybody’s old haunts,” she revealed in the People article.
Raphael’s Parisian vacation included exploring museums and shopping with her friends. The former journalist added, “I was with two women. Actually, I should have gone with a man because it’s romantic, but I went with two women. So it was good.”
As far as her personal life, the red-haired world traveler had no problem sharing her thoughts on attracting younger men, saying, “When you’re a [90-year-old] woman to a [70-year-old] man, then you’re not a cougar. You’re a lion, I guess.”
