Jimmy Deen: Truth About Paula Deen’s ex-husband

Jimmy Deen is the ex-husband of Paula Deen. Jimmy Deen’s ex-wife, Paula is an American chef, cookbook author, and TV personality. Deen resides in Savannah, Georgia, where she owns and operates The Lady & Sons restaurant and Paula Deen’s Creek House with her sons, Jamie and Bobby Deen. She has published fifteen cookbooks.

How did Paula Deen and her ex-husband Jimmy Deen meet?

Paula Deen and her ex-husband Jimmy Deen were high school sweethearts. Before Chef Paula became widely known, she had to face an uphill battle as she dealt with losing her father a year after her marriage to her high school boyfriend, Jimmy Deen. She was just 18 years old at the time of the wedding. After a few years, her mom passed away, something that was too much for Deen to handle. Paula was married to her ex-husband Deen for around 24 years, from 1965 till 1989.

Celebrity chef Paula Deen has not had an easy life at all. Before she became famous, she had to face an uphill battle as she dealt with losing her father a year after her marriage to her high school boyfriend, Jimmy Deen. She was just 18 years old at the time of the wedding. After a few years, her mom passed away, something that was too much for Deen to handle

The famous chef found herself struggling with mental health issues as she tried to cope with the loss of her father. She regularly had to deal with panic attacks. She revealed, “At 19, I woke up every day waiting to die.”

What made matters worse, after some time, it turned out that her husband, Jimmy had a drinking problem and after the birth of two sons it was hard for Paula to deal with it. Her husband wasn’t a huge source of support, unfortunately, and she had to find ways to manage on her own.

Paula Deen shared her experience with her ex-husband Jimmy Deen in her book

 Paula shared in her book “It Ain’t All About the Cookin'” that by the 1990s, the couple was in big trouble. Paula explained, “He drank, and he drank way too much to suit me.” She added that he was not at all trustworthy and she simply couldn’t rely on him to get anything done. Paula’s ex-husband, Jimmy Deen was addicted to alcohol and couldn’t get rid of the habit, which at that time was causing lots of headaches to his wife.

Though she still held on to the ex-husband, a particularly troubling incident made the famous chef realize that she’d had enough. One day, the couple’s son’s truck was seized despite the fact that he would always make the payments.

She wrote”He’d give the money to his father, who was supposed to follow through and give the money to the bank, but Jimmy forgot “one time too many”. “This was too much to handle for Paula, who basically told her husband that she was done with the relationship.”

Jimmy Deen and Paula Deen’s marriage came to an end in 1989. Not much has been heard from the ex-husband since. In 2004, Deen married Michael Groover (born 1956), a tugboat captain in the Port of Savannah, Georgia. The wedding was featured in a Food Network show in 2004 and took place at Bethesda Academy in Savannah. Even though it took some time to find happiness, we believe Paula is fully satisfied with her starting over again with a new person.

Jimmy Deen and Paula Deen’s sons

Paula Deen and her ex-husband, Jimmy Deen’s sons are grown up now and follow mother’s footsteps in their culinary career. Jamie and his brother Bobby have been featured on several Food Network shows, and are rather successful entrepreneurs.