How long were Pat and Gina Neely married?

Pat and Gina Neely ran Down Home With the Neelys, a Food Network program covering basics like how to make a delicious mac and cheese or how to turn basic chores like pulling the membranes off of sparerib into an opportunity for light-hearted flirtation. The program offered rare insight into what a good marriage involves — or so it seemed.

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So, what happened to Pat and Gina Neely?

Pat and Gina got married in 1994 — long before the idea of a TV program would have been flaunted around. The two met back in high school and stayed together for most of their adult years.

During the early days, Pat would work as the owner of the infamous Neely's Bar-B-Que in Memphis, TN, while Gina made a living as a bank manager. They had their first daughter, Spenser in 1989, who was soon followed by Shelbi in 1995.

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As Gina explained in a previous interview with People, their marriage reached breaking point long before they landed the opportunity to run their own food program.

The couple attended therapy 12 times. Gina gave much consideration to leaving Pat on several occasions, but she didn't dare to carry it through.

Although they projected the image of an ideal couple on television, things looked vastly different back at home. However, Gina didn't want her daughters to grow up without a father like she had to, and so she stayed.

It all began to change when their daughters reached adulthood. Down Home With the Neelys was a big success, but not big enough to make Gina happy.

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"We should have been allowed space so we could have a stronger feeling of love for that [other] person. But when you’re with a person all the time and then that person tells you, ‘I feel like we don’t spend enough time together,’ what do you do then? I remember specifically saying to him, ‘What more do you want from me? I don’t know what else I can do? I give you all my time, everything,'" Gina told People.

They failed to overcome past conflicts — so she packed her bags and left Pat for good.

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"I remember leaving with my purse and my duffle bag, and I was out of there [...] I haven’t spoken to Pat in four years," she told People.

“I don’t wish him any harm, but he’s never reached out to me… I guess he’s well? Our girls are older so we’re not really co-parenting or anything," she added.

Pat Neely remarried soon after the divorce.

As the restaurateur explained in a separate interview with People, handling the divorce wasn't easy.

"I run across a lot of people, men in particular, who are going through what I went through four years ago [...] I know it looks bleak now, but I tell them, ‘You just never know what wonderful things are in store for you.’"

Pat found his soul mate just one year after Gina had left him.

He met Tamika Parks on a cruise in 2015. He popped the question in the winter of 2016, and the two were married by 2017.

All too aware of the dangers of leading a public life, he decided to keep a low profile this time. They opted for a small, cozy wedding attended by close friends and family only, and they kept quiet about the birth of their first child, Eriel.

Pat and Tamika are still together – and Pat claims that he couldn't be happier now.

Too many cooks in the kitchen! Former Food Network stars, Pat and Gina Neely, are divorcing after 20 years of marriage, the couple said in a statement to The Root.

"Today we announce that we are ending our marriage of 20 years for irreconcilable differences," the chefs told the site. "This was a tough decision, but we believe it is the best decision for us. As parents of two beautiful adult daughters that we love dearly, we will continue to be involved in each other's lives as parents and friends."

"Together we have built a strong brand as The Neelys," the high school sweethearts, who married in 1994, continued. "Moving forward our focus will be on our individual brands and we are optimistic about our respective futures. We ask for your prayers as we go through this transition and honor our request for privacy at this time."

The couple cooked up a storm on Food Network's Down Home With the Neelys as well as Road Tasted With the Neelys before venturing into their own restaurants. Together they parent daughters Shelbi and Spenser.

gina neely ginaneely.com

By Lauren Porter · Updated October 26, 2020

The world instantly fell in love with husband and wife cooking duo Pat and Gina Neely when their Food Network series Down Home with the Neely’s premiered in 2008.

For 11 seasons, the high school sweethearts brought their love for each other and food to the forefront but when the camera’s stopped rolling, life in their Memphis home was vastly different from what audiences saw.

In 2014, the couple filed for divorce and now Gina is opening up about the demise of their seemingly unbreakable bond.

“I was thinking about divorce right before we got the TV show,” she admits on an upcoming episode of Oprah: Where Are They Now?. “We went to therapy 12 times. I tried to leave five times, and I just didn’t have the strength. But the fifth time, I held onto that.”

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Gina shares that in the midst of their marriage she felt the pressure from her husband to spend more and more time together which drove her to feeling lost within herself.

Their divorce–which came as a shock to most–was necessary for the mother of two. She set her sights on a specific timetable of happiness and did her best to achieve it.

“It became necessary for me to find my path. And I knew I wasn’t happy. I said, ‘I’m definitely not going to [turn] 50 and not be happy.’ So, at 46, I started changing my life…. I realized I liked that better.”