Paula Deen

Paula Ann Hiers Deen (born January 19, 1947) is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia. She has published fifteen cookbooks and owned and operated The Lady & Sons restaurant with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen, until its closure in 2025.

Deen was born Paula Ann Hiers in Albany, Georgia, the daughter of Corrie A. Hiers (née Paul) and Earl Wayne Hiers Sr. Deen was 19 when her father died unexpectedly aged 40, and her mother died four years later aged 44. Prior to her father's death, Paula, aged 18, married Jimmy Deen and in 1967 they had their first son James ("Jamie"), and in 1970 a second son Robert ("Bobby") was born. In her 20s, Deen suffered from depression and agoraphobia and began to spend more time preparing food for her family, as it was something she could do without leaving her house. Deen's cooking style had been informed by her grandmother Irene Paul, who had taught her the art of Southern cooking that Deen described as "real farmhouse cooking, the kind that takes all day". In 1989, Deen and her husband Jimmy divorced. Needing to support herself, her two sons, and her younger brother Earl ("Bubba"), Deen tried various enterprises before starting a catering service that she called The Bag Lady, making lunches for office workers, which her sons Jamie and Bobby delivered.

Following the success of Deen's home-based business, she took a lease for the restaurant as part of a Best Western hotel on Abercorn Street in downtown Savannah, calling it The Lady. In January 1996, after five years at the Best Western, Deen, together with her sons Jamie and Bobby, opened their own restaurant, The Lady & Sons, in downtown Savannah, on West Congress Street. Within a few years, the restaurant moved to the old White Hardware building on Whitaker. The restaurant closed in July 2025. Deen also opened four casino buffets; they were at Harrah's Casino Tunica in Mississippi, Harrah's Cherokee casino in North Carolina, Horseshoe Southern Indiana, and Harrah's Joliet in Illinois. They were rebranded in 2013 shortly after Deen was removed from the Food Network. In addition to these, Deen co-owned Uncle Bubba's Oyster House in Savannah, Georgia. The restaurant closed in April 2014 and reopened in June 2017 as Paula Deen's Creek House, until its permanent closure in January 2023. In 2015, Deen opened Paula Deen's Family Kitchen in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and in June 2017, opened another in the city of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina at Broadway at the Beach. In 2018, Deen opened two Paula Deen restaurants in Texas, but both closed the following year. In 2020, Deen opened a Paula Deen's Family Kitchen in Nashville, Tennessee, and in 2021, another in Panama City Beach.

In 1997, Deen self-published The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons, Too! A Whole New Batch of Recipes from Savannah. Both cookbooks featured traditional Southern recipes. She has since published two more, written with Martha Nesbit. Deen has appeared on QVC and on The Oprah Winfrey Show (first in 2002, twice in 2007 and once in 2010). Her life story is featured in Extraordinary Comebacks: 201 Inspiring Stories of Courage, Triumph, and Success (2007, Sourcebooks). In April 2007, Simon & Schuster published Deen's memoir, It Ain't All About the Cookin'. She launched a lifestyle magazine called Cooking with Paula Deen in November 2005, which claimed a circulation of 7.5 million in March 2009. As of 2021, the magazine is still being published monthly. In 2015, Paula Deen Ventures signed a distribution agreement with Hachette Client Services for future cookbooks. In 2019, Deen released her latest cookbook, Paula Deen's Southern Baking.

Deen's relationship with Food Network began in 1999, when a friend introduced her to Gordon Elliott. Elliott took her through the city for a series of Doorknock Dinners episodes. Deen was invited to shoot a pilot named Afternoon Tea in early 2001. The network liked it, and eventually gave Deen her own show, Paula's Home Cooking, which premiered in November 2002. Paula's Home Cooking was originally taped in Millbrook, New York at Elliott's home, and later, recorded at Deen's own home in Savannah, Georgia.

Deen presented two more Food Network shows, Paula's Party and Paula's Best Dishes. Paula's Party premiered on the Food Network in 2006 and Paula's Best Dishes debuted in June 2008. A televised biography of Deen was aired as an episode of the Food Network's Chefography program, in March 2006.

On June 21, 2013, due to a controversy regarding Deen's admission that she had used racial slurs in a social media post, The Food Network announced they would not renew her contract. In March 2015, Deen launched the Paula Deen Channel on Roku. In September 2015, Deen was announced as one of the celebrities to compete on the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars. She was paired with professional dancer Louis van Amstel. The couple was eliminated in the sixth week of competition, finishing in 9th place overall. In October 2016, Deen launched a syndicated television show, Positively Paula. Deen also appears on the home shopping network ShopHQ selling a variety of merchandise including kitchen appliances and food products.

On April 7, 2021, it was announced that Paula Deen would join MasterChef as a guest host for the 11th season premiering in June 2021. Deen, along with other well-known cooks, such as Emeril Lagasse, joined Gordon Ramsay to mentor 15 home cooks through a series of challenges.