Pat Neely found love again after his 23-year marriage to Gina Neely came to an end. Pat and Gina were the picture-perfect couples on Down Home with the Neelys, one of Food Network’s most popular shows.
However, the couple was far from perfect, and after eleven years of sharing the screen, they decided to split up.
When they were filming the show, the ex-wife claimed that the relationship had been reduced to nothing more than a business partnership, but Pat remembered it differently.
As far as he could tell, he had a great time working with Gina on those eleven seasons. He cherished the fact that he was able to spend so much time with his high school sweetheart and claimed that he had never had to act.
Whatever the case, Pat was hurting and devastated when it was all said and done. Even back then, he respected Gina’s divorce request.
The divorce proceedings took only six hours to complete, and by the time they were finished, he was thinking of the show’s fans the most. In his eyes, he was worried that he had disappointed them all.
He simply jumped back into work to deal with the divorce, but life had other ideas. Being a celebrity chef on Food Network’s most popular show has its advantages. They’d be invited to appear on various shows and restaurants, for example.
In 2015, Pat was invited on a Tom Joyner cruise, where he met Tamika Parks, a registered nurse-anesthetist. It was love at first sight, he said, and she caught him off guard.
On Christmas Eve the following year, the man who had almost given up on the idea of marriage proposed once more.
In an interview with People, the reality star revealed that they shared many interests, including a love for family and children. “I like to eat and he likes to cook, so it works,” his new wife added.
It’s always in the Sauce!#cooking #atleats #chicagoeats #foodandwine #plates #cooks #grillmaster #grilling #bbq pic.twitter.com/vcziESmhRc
— Patrick Neely (@PatNeelyBBQKing) March 28, 2020
The couple created a beautiful blended family through their marriage. Elijah, Joyner’s child from a previous relationship, and Shelbi and Spenser, Pat’s children from a previous relationship, are their children.
According to the reality star, he treats all of the blended family’s children as his own. Indeed, he claimed that he did not believe in having stepchildren and that the only steps in his home were those that led upstairs and downstairs.
He went on to say that he had enjoyed the time he had spent with the children.
When he meets people who have gone through a breakup or divorce, he makes it a point to tell them that, while things may appear bleak now, the future holds incredible possibilities.
