Savannah TV personality and chef Bobby Deen married Claudia Lovera on Saturday at the home of his mother, Paula Deen.
People.com reports the couple, who got engaged in the spring, were married in front of about 75 guests, including Bobby's brother, Jamie Deen and his family; Paula's brother, Bubba Hiers; and the bride's family, who now live in Panama City, Panama.
INTERACTIVE Timeline: Deen family over the years
The wedding comes amid a firestorm of controversy over Paula Deen saying in a lawsuit deposition that she had used the "N" word in the past.
In an interview with the Savannah Morning News prior to that controversy, Paula Deen had this to say about her son and the wedding that then was scheduled for next month:
“I can’t keep up with Bobby Deen anymore,” Deen says. “Oh, honey, I can’t believe the old man is getting married! I’m so proud of him. He’s 43 years old but he looks 33.
“He didn’t sell out — he really waited for the one that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He said, ‘Mama, I’m not doing this more than once.’
“We’re stepping and fetching around here,” Deen says. “It’s going to be here at the house. You know how hot it will be, which will be a chore, but we’ll deal with it.”
Bobby has known the bride-to-be for some time, Deen says.
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“She’s from Venezuela and was here getting a master’s degree from SCAD,” she says. “He had met her at the gym and knew what kind of person she was. Bobby has never thrown that ‘m’ word around very much, so when he finally said it, I knew it was the real deal.”
Deen isn’t just proud, she’s relieved.
“One of my biggest worries was Bobby waking up at 80 years old and being a lonely old man,” she says.
“He used to say, ‘I’ll probably never marry and I’ll never have children.’ I don’t know what I’d do without my children, and for him to miss that would have broken my heart. Now I can not worry and know he’ll be surrounded by a beautiful, loving wife and children.”
Although she’ll host the wedding, Deen will not do the cooking.
“I know my limitations,” she says. “I can only tackle so much.”
Read more about the nuptials at savannahnow.com and in Friday's Savannah Morning News.