Paula Deen reveals she nearly died ‘of a broken heart' in rare TV appearance after scandal
The former Food Network star, 78, appeared on 'Fox and Friends' Wednesday to discuss some of the lowest points in her life, including her agoraphobia battle and her 2013 racism scandal that tarnished her career, ahead of her documentary that comes out next month.
'Let me tell you something, Steve. I thought I was going to die of a broken heart,' she told host Steve Doocy at her Savannah, Georgia home. 'And I said I couldn't let myself fall back into that terrible [agoraphobia].'
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7 Paula Deen on 'Fox and Friends' on August 20.
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7 Steve Doocy interviewing Paula Deen for Fox.
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'But I had, like, 5 and a half, 6 million people come in on my Facebook and put their arms around me,' Deen added. 'And without y'all, I would not have survived.'
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The celebrity chef explained that she self-diagnosed herself with agoraphobia — an anxiety disorder characterized by a fear of situations where escape might be difficult — after she watched an episode of 'The Phil Donahue Show.'
7 Paula Deen appears on 'Today' in 2013.
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'I considered what I would call a functioning sometimes-agoraphobic,' she shared. 'You're so afraid someone's going to hurt you.'
'I had lost my daddy when he was just 40. He was the star of my life,' Deen went on. 'And then my mother, my best friend, I lost her at 44, four years later. I had a 16-year-old brother to try to finish raising and I had two babies under 3.'
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But after dealing with agoraphobia for 20 years, Deen eventually had an epiphany that helped her overcome the anxiety.
7 Paula Deen attends Hallmark's 'Home and Family' at Universal Studios Hollywood in 2017.
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'The Serenity Prayer went through my head, and I said, 'Girl, you are so stupid. That's what you're supposed to be asking God for, to be able to accept the serenity to accept the things you couldn't change, the courage to change the things that you could, and dear lord, please give me the sense to know the difference between those two things,'' she said.
7 Paula Deen at the 2011 Tournament of Roses in Pasadena, California.
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Deen has barely been on television since the scandal that occurred 12 years ago.
The Food Network canceled Deen's show in 2013 amid fallout from a lawsuit by a former employee. A transcript of Deen answering questions under oath in a legal deposition became public, which revealed she had used the N-word.
Deen's career has not been the same since the scandal. Earlier this month, she announced the closure of her Savannah restaurant The Lady & Sons that launched her into fame.
7 Paula Deen during her Thanksgiving special in 2005.
7 Paula Deen attends the EVINE Live launch event in New York in 2015.
Andy Kropa /Invision/AP
The cookbook author will be discussing her racism controversy and more in her upcoming documentary 'Canceled: The Paula Deen Story,' which premieres at the Toronto Film Festival in September.
Directed by Billy Corben, the film 'explores what it means when we build up celebrities and then tear them down,' according to TIFF's website.
'You may think you know the story of Paula Deen, but Corben uncovers perspectives and gradations that complicate anyone's hot take,' the description adds.
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