Paula Deen calls herself “the luckiest” in a rare family update, sharing a heartfelt glimpse into life with her loved ones.
On January 27, 2026, the celebrity chef took to Instagram to share a photo with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. Together, the trio has worked tirelessly to ensure the success of their family business for almost 40 years.
Deen wrote, “Y’all, I just want to brag on my boys a bit today. I’m just so proud of the wonderful husbands and fathers they are, and for being such devoted and loving sons to their old mama. I’m the luckiest mother in the world!”
Jamie Deen is married to Brooke, and they have three sons, Jack, Matthew, and Davis. Bobby’s spouse is Claudia, and they are parents to triplets, a son, Linton, and daughters Olivia and Amelia.
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Deen and her sons have maintained an extraordinarily close relationship as they grew their homegrown business, The Bag Lady, into a successful series of restaurants and several Food Network series. Deen hosted Paula’s Home Cooking, followed by Paula’s Party and Paula’s Best Dishes. Bobby hosted Holiday Baking Championship, Spring Baking Championship, and, alongside brother Jamie, Road Tasted, and Southern Fried Road Trip.
However, when her business began, Deen didn’t always have her sons’ backing as she tried to support their family after divorcing their father, Jimmy, in 1989. In her memoir, It Ain’t All About the Cookin’, Deen spoke about the early days of her home-grown business, The Bag Lady, and how difficult it was for their relationship as not only their mother, but boss.
According to her official website, “Her parents died, her marriage failed, and she began a prolonged battle with agoraphobia. With her boys in their teens and her family near homelessness, Paula took her last $200, reached deep inside her soul, and started The Bag Lady, a home-based catering company that marked the start of Deen’s professional cooking career. With sons Jamie and Bobby delivering lunch-and-love-in-a-bag, beginning in June 1989, Paula turned her life around by sharing what she knew best, traditional Southern cooking.”
That catering company turned into her first brick-and-mortar restaurant, The Lady & Sons, located in Savannah, Georgia. The eatery was in business from 1989 through 2015.
Deen parted ways with the Food Network in 2013 after controversy arose over racial comments she had made in the past. She continued to run her restaurants and maintain a social media presence in the years after, moving to YouTube in 2020 with a new series of cooking videos.
Paula Deen has been married to Michael Groover since 2004. She is the subject of a new documentary titled Canceled: The Paula Deen Story, which awaits a release date.
