‘The Rosie O’Donnell Show’ Producer Reveals Why Talk Show’s Set Was ‘Changed’ for Barbra Streisand

Judy Gold is sharing a behind-the-scenes story from her time as a writer and producer on The Rosie O’Donnell Show.

The two-time Emmy Award winner, 63, appeared on a recent episode of Sirius XM’s The Julia Cunningham Show and recalled that when Barbra Streisand came on the show in November 1997, they prepared for weeks in advance.

“Barbra Streisand, when she came on, I don’t know, I guess I’m allowed to talk about this, but they had changed the set because she wanted to be seen from whatever side of her face she loves, right?” Gold explained.

“But we couldn’t tell anyone that, so they did it like a month before, three weeks before, something like that, ‘Hey, we’re redecorating here’ and changed the set,” she continued. “I’m a Jewish girl from New Jersey — like Barbra Streisand is the [explicit] queen. And so they did it, acting like it was just we were trying something new out, but it was really because we knew she was coming on the show.”

The comedian went on to share that she sat in the audience when Streisand appeared on the show, and it was an emotional moment for her.

“I remember her [Rosie O’Donnell] standing out there, and I remember her saying, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, Barbra Streisand,’ and I just started crying because I knew this was it,” Gold remarked. “This was like, you know, you sit in your room, and you fake you’re on television, or you fake you’re Barbra Streisand, and here it was, like a dream come true.”