Ray Romano SaysEverybody Loves Raymond's 'Abrupt' End Caused Anxiety for His Kids: 'A Little Guilty' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

The ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ cast. From left: Peter Boyle, Doris Roberts, Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett and Monica Horan.Photo:Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty

Peter Boyle, Doris Roberts, Ray Romano, Patricia Heaton, Brad Garrett, and Monica Horan star in Everybody Loves Raymond.

Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty

In the upcoming documentaryRomano Twins, Ray’s twin sons, Matt and Greg, 31, open up about how growing up with a famous father has shaped — and in some ways, hindered — their lives.

The project, which premiered at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival on Nov. 9, also features interviews with their mother, Anna, their siblings Alexandra and Joseph, and Ray himself, who reflects on the end of his nine-season sitcom and its impact on his kids — particularly Matt, who struggled with anxiety afterward.

Ray Romano, his sons Matt, Greg and Joe, daughter Alexandra and wife Anna in 2000.Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Ray Romano and kids.

Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty

Elaborating on his kids’ involvement in the sitcom — in which he starred as a sports columnist with a “dysfunctional” family with twins of their own — Ray adds, “They would come once a week to the show. We would take turns. Matt would come one week to the taping, the filming of the show, and I would say hello to the audience, and they would run out. I’d do a little shtick with them. Every week, we shared this experience.”

The eldest of the four Romano siblings, Ally, 34, vividly recalls the end of the sitcom. “I think the show affected all of us,” she tells PEOPLE. “We were all bawling, crying on that last night. We all grew up on that set.”

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As someone who has “been through the ups and downs” and admittedly has dealt with anxiety himself, Ray says the wayEverybody Loves Raymondaffected his kids left him feeling “a little guilty.” He adds, “This was their world from 3 to 12, and then, it was just stopping abruptly. It really caught us off guard that it would affect them that much, and then, that effect would stay with Matt a little bit."

The Romanos in 2017. From left: Alexandra, Anna, Ray, Joe, Matt and Greg.Tibrina Hobson/Getty

Ray Romano Ranks His Four Children, and No. 1 and 3 Have Flipped ‘For a Number of Reasons’

Tibrina Hobson/Getty

“You feel a little guilty about it. It’s hard. It’s hard for any parent no matter what the situation is. And then, I was also dealing with myself, this life change.”

Being thrust into the spotlight for nine years felt like “being in a submarine,” Ray explains — and it left him feeling disoriented. “Before the show, I lived in New York, and then it starts. I’m in a submarine for nine years, because it’s work. And all of a sudden, it ends, and I’m in L.A. I’m like, ‘What the hell is this?’ ” he says. “It was a big transition for the whole family.”

“It’s like anything in life. People who don’t have this situation go through the same thing in their own way,” he says. “We dealt with it, and we got to the other side.”

source: people.com