Paula Deen Makes Rare ‘Fox & Friends’ TV Appearance After Restaurant Closures

Paige Strout August 20, 2025, 2:34 pm

Steve Doocy and Paula Deen, 'Fox & Friends,' August 20, 2025. — Courtesy of Steve Doocy/Instagram

Paula Deen gave fans a glimpse into her personal life during her latest TV appearance.

The celebrity chef gave Steve Doocy a tour of her Savannah, Georgia, home on the Wednesday, August 20, episode of Fox & Friends. While walking in the front yard, Deen recalled how she used to live in a condo across the street from her current house before she met her husband, Michael Groover. The two crossed paths after one of her dogs got loose and ran into Michael’s yard to do their business.

“I go through all the bushes, and lo and behold, this man with the shaggy hair, beard. I didn’t know if the man had teeth. He didn’t look happy. I couldn’t get my butt out of there quick enough,” the former Food Network star quipped. “I grabbed my dogs and I went back around that wall, and I said, ‘Lord, that ain’t my neighbor I’ve been praying for, is it?'”

Eventually, the two fell in love, tied the knot in 2004, and built their “forever home.” Deen went on to show Doocy her at-home chicken coop and custom dock (built by Groover) before taking the host inside to make ice cream French toast. Deen’s spin on the classic recipe involves soaking bread in melted vanilla ice cream instead of eggs.

“There’s eggs already in the ice cream, so we don’t need those eggs,” Deen said of the eggs she and Doocy picked from the coop, which she instead fried up with some bacon. She completed the breakfast dish by topping the toast with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and maple syrup.

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Before digging in, Doocy asked about her early days, particularly how Deen once rarely left her house for 20 years. Describing herself as a “functioning, sometimes agoraphobic,” Deen explained that she did so after being left to raise her teenage brother and “two babies under 3” following the deaths of her parents. (Paula shares her sons — Jaime, 58, and Bobby, 55 — with her ex-husband, Jimmy Dean.)

Paula will soon share her life’s story in the new documentary Canceled: The Paula Deen Story, which is set to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. “My children and I were a little leery at first,” she said of the film, adding, “I thought I was gonna die of a broken heart. And I said, I couldn’t let myself fall back into that terrible agoraphobic. But I had, like, five and a half, six million people come in on my Facebook and put their arms around me. And without y’all, I would not have survived.”

ICYMI: @Paula_Deen shares an exclusive ice cream French toast recipe! 🍨 Are you a sweet or savory breakfast fan? | @SteveDoocy pic.twitter.com/z4EwrXQkXk

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) August 20, 2025

Paula’s Fox & Friends appearance comes less than one month after she announced the abrupt closure of two of her restaurants. “Hey, y’all, my sons and I made the heartfelt decision that Thursday, July 31st, was the last day of service for The Lady & Sons and The Chicken Box,” she and her sons wrote in a joint social media statement on August 1. “Thank you for all the great memories and for your loyalty over the past 36 years. We have endless love and gratitude for every customer who has walked through our doors. We are equally grateful to our incredible staff—past and present—whose hard work, care, and hospitality made The Lady & Sons what it was.”

Noting that “Savannah will always be our home,” the statement continued, “We will now focus our attention on the four Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen locations across the country—in Pigeon Forge, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, and Branson. We’re excited to continue visiting these restaurants regularly, starting with Branson on August 8th.”