Lake, Placid.

The hills above L.A. are alive with the sound of music. Well, at least for Ricki Lake. After taking sons Milo, 9, and Owen, 4, to school, she often hikes four miles while listening to "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" and other show tunes on her iPod. "Cheesy," she admits. "But I feel like Julie Andrews."

And it appears a few of her favorite things have taken a turn. For more than a decade she had presided over a New York studio audience chanting "Go Ricki! Go Ricki!" as host of a talk show that delved into topics like "You Have Naked Pictures of Me-I Want Them Back Now!" and was often rated second only to Oprah. But in 2004 Lake, 37, opted not to renew her contract. "I wanted to challenge myself by doing something else," she says. Having witnessed the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center from her apartment window, she also wanted a break from her native New York City. But shortly after moving to L.A. she separated from husband Rob Sussman, 39, an illustrator whom she had wed in 1994. The divorce was finalized in 2005, and for a year Lake decided to "lay low" to adjust to her new life.

Now settled in Brentwood, Calif., Lake is getting back to work. Since May 31 she's been hosting the CBS summer series Game Show Marathon, in which celebs like 'NSYNC's Lance Bass and Kathy Najimy compete for charity in classic game show formats such as Let's Make a Deal and The Price Is Right.

Lake proved the perfect host because-no disrespect to Monty Hall or Bob Barker-"her hair actually moves," producer Stuart Krasnow, who worked on her talk show, says jokingly. "She is completely relatable," he says. "Her show was on for 11 years by no accident." And, her tonsorial edge aside, Lake likes that the series "pays homage to the shows that I love."

More surprising to those not close enough to the star to know she gave birth to her second child at home in a bathtub, Lake has produced a documentary about midwives, which she plans to submit to Sundance this year. "Midwifery [at home] is not legal in a number of states," says Lake, who was attended by a midwife at both births. "We want to help change the law so that the profession is recognized. It's the best thing I have ever done."

Maybe a close second. The best may have been choosing a real estate agent who found her not only a rambling five-bedroom home with a pool (prior owner: Courteney Cox) but also introduced her to new love Apollo Yiamouyiannis, 34, an Ohio-born personal trainer. "He was a godsend because I was in so much pain after the marriage," says Lake of her beau, whom she met shortly after separating from Sussman.

Yiamouyiannis passes through the living room as Lake is explaining that "it was total attraction at first sight." He seems a little embarrassed. "Come on," she teases, "you thought I was hot!"

"Well, yeah," he says. "You are hot, but I was trying to be subtle." They both laugh. Two years on, "my kids adore Apollo, and my ex-husband absolutely values Apollo in this family," says Lake of Sussman, who lives nearby and shares custody. "I feel I am an example of a positive divorce experience. It was hell going through it, but on the other side I don't have resentment and anger."

Her new relationship works well, in part because Yiamouyiannis is not her trainer. "I don't look over her shoulder-she knows what's healthy and what's not," he says. That knowledge was hard-won for Lake, who weighed 250 lbs. at age 20, when she originated the role of Tracy Turnblad in 1988's Hairspray. After she played another heavy character on ABC's China Beach, the parts all but evaporated and Lake faced rising debts. In 1991 she shed 130 lbs. on a mostly vegetarian diet. Except for pregnancy gain, she's kept it off and is today a size 8. But staying slim "is an effort," says Lake, who works out four days a week. "I will always have issues with food-it's the card I was dealt. But I'm healthy," she says, taking in the sunny room. "It doesn't get much better than this."

PHOTO (COLOR): "Chaos-with playdates," is how Lake (in her L.A. yard, and, left, on the Game Show set) describes her home life. "It's manic, but I love it."

PHOTO (COLOR): "Apollo [with Lake in 2004] has the body of a Greek god, but he is a gentle soul," says Krasnow.

PHOTO (COLOR): After Lake's divorce, "redesigning her family was painful," says Kathy Najimy of her friend (at home with son Milo).

PHOTO (COLOR)

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By Ericka Sóuter and Vicki Sheff-Cahan, Los Angeles