As Paula Deen prepares to launch her subscription-based online network this Wednesday, the celebrity cook has cut a deal to buy the rights to all of her old Food Network shows.
Deen’s company, Paula Deen Ventures, purchased a total of 440 episodes, according to spokesman Jaret Keller, including the unaired 14th season of “Paula’s Best Dishes,” which ran from 2008-2013.
Food Network canceled its contract with Deen in 2013 after she became involved in a highly publicized scandal over her admitted use of a racial slur in the past.
After a brief hiatus, Deen announced her comeback at the beginning of this year after receiving $100 million in backing from Phoenix-based investment firm Najafi Cos. This summer Deen has gone on tour doing live shows to promote the new network, whose subscriptions cost between $7.99 and $9.99 a month.
The deal with Food Network includes all of the cook’s shows since she started on the network in 2002 as well as holiday specials and raw footage that will be repackaged.
Announcing her new network in June, Deen said she would give fans a more candid look at her life.
“You’ll see all of me,” Deen said. “It’s not being governed by a network because we are our bosses, and we’re going to give our friends what they want, not what a bunch of executives in New York City think we should have.”
The new network will combine vintage episodes with newer content, such as how-to tutorials and game-show style videos. The Wall Street Journal reports Deen’s network will also air a self-produced documentary on her life since 2012 when she was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.