Paula Deen

Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and television personality residing in Savannah, Georgia. She is known for her focus on traditional Southern cuisine, her television cooking programs, and her extensive range of cookbooks and restaurant ventures.

Deen was born in Albany, Georgia. After the deaths of her parents during her youth, she married Jimmy Deen at age 18, and the couple had two sons, James and Robert. In her twenties, Deen suffered from depression and agoraphobia, leading her to spend time at home learning Southern farmhouse cooking from her grandmother, Irene Paul. Following her divorce in 1989, she began a home-based catering service called The Bag Lady to support her family, with her sons delivering the meals to local office workers.

Following the success of her catering business, Deen leased space inside a Savannah hotel for a restaurant named The Lady. In 1996, she and her sons opened The Lady & Sons in downtown Savannah, operating the restaurant until its closure in 2025. Over the course of her career, Deen expanded her brand by opening casino buffets, co-owning Uncle Bubba's Oyster House (later reopened as Paula Deen's Creek House), and opening multiple Paula Deen's Family Kitchen locations in states including Tennessee, South Carolina, and Florida.

Deen's television career began through a connection with Gordon Elliott, leading to her Food Network debut with Paula's Home Cooking in 2002. She went on to host additional programs for the network, including Paula's Party and Paula's Best Dishes. In addition to her culinary series, Deen made her film acting debut in Elizabethtown (2005), competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2015, launched the syndicated series Positively Paula in 2016, sold merchandise on ShopHQ, and served as a guest host on MasterChef in 2021.

Deen has authored fifteen cookbooks, beginning with self-published works such as The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook in 1997, as well as her 2007 memoir It Ain't All About the Cookin' and 2019's Paula Deen's Southern Baking. In 2005, she launched her monthly lifestyle magazine, Cooking with Paula Deen. Her broadcasting work earned her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lifestyle Host in 2007, and she served as Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade for 2011.

In 2013, Deen was involved in a legal and public controversy following a deposition in a discrimination lawsuit where she admitted to past use of racial slurs. Following the news, Food Network opted not to renew her contract, and several major retailers and corporate partners cancelled endorsement deals. In 2015, she faced further public criticism over a holiday photo featuring her son in brownface makeup.

In her personal life, Deen married tugboat captain Michael Groover in 2004. In 2012, she announced a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes and subsequently became a paid spokesperson for the pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk.