2013 was not a good year for celebrity chef Paula Deen when she admitted to using racial slurs and requesting her staff to act like slaves, yet she tells People that she is prepping for her comeback.
Paula Deen graces the cover of the newest People , on newsstands this Friday, and discusses last summer's ultimate racial scandal in which the 67 year old southern chef admitted to using the n-word and asking her black servers to dress and act like slaves at an event. Deen lost many of her endorsements and her contract with Food Network after the scandal, but she tells People that she is revamping her business with a new multi-million dollar company. "When I woke up each morning, it was like my world was crashing down again," Deen says of the months where she was constantly under fire. Now, nearly nine months after her public image was ruined, Paula Deen is ready to try again. "I'm fighting to get my name back," she says. Deen seems to see herself as a victim and adopts a survivor mentality about the incident, saying that, "I used to have dreams that I lost everything. And when it finally happens, you think, 'I'm still alive,'" she says.
The full interview will be available in Friday's issue of People .
Photo: People