'Down Home With the Neelys' Star Pat Neely Secretly Weds, Expecting Child With Wife

Pat Neely, the star of the Food Network's Down Home with the Neelys, secretly married last year [...]

Pat Neely, the star of the Food Network's Down Home with the Neelys, secretly married last year and his new wife is already expecting a child.

pat neely
(Photo: Instagram/Pat Neely)

On Sunday, The Blast reported that a marriage certificate filed in Troub County, Georgia confirms that the 53-year-old Neely and Tamika Parks married on Oct. 7, 2017. Two weeks after the wedding, Parks posted a photo of herself in a wedding dress. "He knows how to make me smile. #HappyDay #IMarriedMyBestFriend #ThankYouGod," she wrote in the caption.

However, there are no references to Parks or even a wedding on Neely's Instagram and Facebook pages, a sign that the celebrity chef wanted to keep his marriage a secret.

Parks also put Neely on the deed to her Georgia home a month before the wedding, The Blast reports. She has also shared photos confirming her pregnancy on Facebook.

Neely was previously married to his Down Home co-star, Gina Neely. Gina filed for divorce in September 2014, after 19 years of marriage, TMZ reported at the time. According to the divorce documents, they started living apart in 2012, although they continued filming new Down Home episodes together.

Gina cited "irreconcilable differences" for the reason of the split, and said in a statement that they "will continue to be involved in each other's lives as parents and friends."

In February, Gina told PEOPLE she has not spoken to Neely since the divorce. The couple have two adult daughters - 29-year-old Spenser from Gina's previous marriage, and 23-year-old Shelbi.

"I remember leaving with my purse and my duffle bag, and I was out of there," Gina told the magazine. "I haven't spoken to Pat in four years. 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."

The Neelys created the public persona of a perfect marriage, but Gina told PEOPLE she cried before taping every episode.

"I never wanted to be a TV chef. I was a branch manager at a bank," she explained. "I was going to divorce Pat prior to the show. And then all of a sudden the train jumped on the track and I had to hold on for my life."

As the show became a bigger success for the Food Network, their marriage continued to deteriorate behind the scenes.

"It didn't feel like a marriage anymore," Gina said. "I wasn't sexually attracted to him. He became my business partner, whereas I needed a husband."

Down Home debuted in 2008 and ended in 2014. The Neelys also published three books between 2009 and 2014.

According to Neely's website, he has owned restaurants in Nashville, Memphis and New York City. During the 2016-2017 TV Season, he hosted The CW's Save to Win.

Meanwhile, Gina appeared on Bravo's To Rome For Love earlier this year.

Photo credit: Instagram/Pat Neely

0comments