You already know and love Ree Drummond, the brains behind the powerful The Pioneer Woman blog,
cooking show, clothing line, and beyond. But have you ever stopped to wonder about her husband,
Ladd Drummond? This is everything you need to know about The Pioneer Woman's husband.
Long before dating apps became the dominating force in romance,
people used to meet in person, randomly and by happenstance.
That's exactly how it happened for Ladd Drummond and Ree Smith.
These two lovebirds met at a bar in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. As the story goes,
Ree had moved back home to Oklahoma after living in Los Angeles. It was supposed to be a
short stopover where she could catch her breath for a few months before moving on to Chicago.
One night, she decided to meet up with a few girlfriends for a casual night on the town.
She spotted Ladd across the room and was immediately struck by his cowboy look.
According to her recollection, he was sipping on a bottle of beer while
wearing cowboy boots and a pair of Wrangler jeans. The two struck up a conversation,
while Ree tried to keep her eyes off of his "big and strong" hands, according to her blog.
After meeting Ree at the bar, Ladd Drummond didn't call her immediately,
according to one of Ree's blog posts. Ree was disappointed,
but moved along with her life, continuing her plans to move to Chicago. A few months later,
Ladd eventually called. They went out to dinner the next day and shared their first kiss at the
end of the night. Ladd knew almost immediately that The Pioneer Woman was the woman for him.
He told her he loved her just two weeks after that first date, and the rest is history.
Their whirlwind romance came as something of a shock to Ree,
who had left Oklahoma to attend college at the University of California Los Angeles. Her dad
made a good living as an orthopedic surgeon, which meant, according to The New Yorker, that
she and her three siblings could spend their time at the country club and taking ballet lessons.
Ree never anticipated marrying a cowboy, but doing so sparked her wildly successful brand,
The Pioneer Woman. In fact, her nickname started as somewhat of a joke when friends
realized she was planning on "roughing it" in the country with a rancher for the rest of her life.
Then it just stuck. She wrote in a blog post,
"I was literally THE last person anyone ever pictured moving to the country.
When I announced my engagement to a cowboy, my childhood friends couldn't believe it."
"Hi sweaty. I mean sweetie."
"You want a big hug?"
"Aw yeah."
On the Pioneer Woman blog, Ree almost exclusively refers to her husband as
"The Marlboro Man," a reference to the brand mascot used in advertisements for
cigarettes starting in the 1960s. He was a strong, rugged cowboy with a handsome face
and plenty of confidence. So what does all that have to do with Ladd Drummond?
During a baby shower at Ree's friend Hyacinth's house, Ladd was casually sitting on the porch. As
the story goes, one of the guests arrived at the shower, spotted Ladd Drummond,
and made a comment about the Marlboro Man sitting outside. The name just seemed to fit.
The nickname became even more important to Ree Drummond when she started her Pioneer Woman
blog years later. She didn't necessarily want to use her or her husband's names in the beginning,
so she referred to him by his nickname instead.
In keeping with his rough-and-tumble cowboy image,
Ladd Drummond made what some might consider to be a unique wardrobe choice for his wedding to Ree.
Instead of shiny black dress shoes, he wore cowboy boots.
The powerhouse couple got married in September 1996,
and it was a mostly traditional ceremony. Ree Drummond wore a classic white dress,
while Ladd wore a black tuxedo. But he wouldn't go so far as to give up his beloved boots.
The Drummonds have now been together for more than 20 successful years. Ree says they've had such a
long marriage because they still prioritize spending time together, even though their
lives are busy and hectic. They love to watch movies, including films from the 1980s, westerns,
and the Godfather series. They snack, relax, and just generally enjoy each other's company.
It's no secret that Ree Drummond is a good cook — her show on The Food Network makes that
exceedingly clear. But some of her creativity in the kitchen can be attributed to her family,
the taste-testers for any new recipes she's developing. She particularly loves cooking
for her husband. One of his favorite foods is a sandwich she even named after him:
The Marlboro Man Sandwich. She joked on her blog that he loves the sandwich so much
that he'll even start fasting for a few hours in preparation.
It's made with cube steak, Lawry's seasoning salt, onions, butter, Worcestershire sauce,
tabasco, and a deli roll. It only takes 30 minutes to make, and it's easy to riff off her recipe,
adding ingredients like melted mozzarella cheese, sliced mushrooms, sherry, thyme, garlic, and more.
One of Ladd's favorite desserts is a special chocolate pie with a puddling-style filling,
according to Southern Living. The pie is made with either a store-bought or homemade pie crust,
bittersweet chocolate, sugar, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and a few other ingredients.
Ree suggests serving it with whipped cream, which adds a rich creamy finish,
but the Marlboro Man would rather eat his pie plain. She wrote on her blog:
"In no universe would he ever, ever consider adorning his chocolate pie with anything.
To him, that would mar the beautiful simplicity of this luscious dessert
and he sees absolutely no logical reason for it."
"My husband does not like meringue."
"My husband doesn't either!"
Exactly nine-and-a-half months after their wedding, Ree Drummond gave birth to the pair's
first child, a little girl they named Alex. After that came another girl, this one named Paige,
followed by their first son Bryce. The duo welcomed their youngest child, Todd, in 2004.
Today, those once-tiny kiddos are now almost all adults. Ladd has remained an active dad
all throughout their childhood and teenage years, taking the kids to sports practice
and just generally making their lives run as smoothly as possible on the ranch.
He does so much for the family, that Ree has determined that his love language
is "Acts of Service," meaning that he loves to do things for others.
She even wrote an entire blog post about how caring and selfless the Marlboro Man is.
"Probably the best part for me is just the family aspect. I work with my dad,
I get to work with my kids. I work with my brother."
The Pioneer Woman frequently gushes on her blog about her husband of more than 20 years.
Even after two decades, it's clear there's still a genuine spark between these two.
Ree also often takes to social media to express her love for her hubby.
On his birthday in January 2020, she posted a photo on Instagram with the caption:
"Best lips in the world. I'm sorry, but it's true. I love you, honey. Happy birthday."
Similarly, the Marlboro Man sure seems to be head-over-heels for The Pioneer Woman.
Though he has a very busy schedule as a rancher,
he always makes time to spend with Ree, and he often does whatever he can to show
her how much he loves her. Ree wrote in a sugary-sweet blog post about her husband,
"He drives me places if he thinks it will help me. He helps me before I know I need help.
He definitely helps me before I even ask."
It was a big moment when Ree Drummond was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.
Both Ladd and Ree Drummond are native Oklahomans, and they take great pride in their home state.
Ree's loving husband had the honor to introduce The Pioneer Woman during the induction ceremony.
But Ree Drummond said the honor was all hers. She posted a sweet
Instagram photo and caption that read:
"He spoke in front of 1,400 people, and I got a lump in my throat watching
him backstage because I was so darn proud of him."
Even though Ladd Drummond is not comfortable on stage, and he's far from an experienced public
speaker, he made the introduction because of how much he loves his wife, Today reported.
She was pretty tickled with the fact that he wore a tuxedo, the first since their wedding.
The ceremony also reaffirmed The Pioneer Woman's love for
living on a ranch and the great state of Oklahoma.
"Oklahoma awakened a creative side that I never knew I had, and a spirit I never knew I had."
She added,
"Oklahoma gives me strength. And, God willing and the creek don't rise, it will be my home forever."
Though Ree Drummond came from a well-off family herself,
her wealth really grew when she married into Ladd's family. He comes from a long line of
cattle ranchers, dating back more than 100 years, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Frederick Drummond was the first to arrive in Oklahoma after emigrating from Scotland
and marrying a woman from Kansas. Their offspring, grandchildren, great-grandchildren,
and other descendants have all played a role in establishing Oklahoma's rich ranching history.
Today, the couple owns more than 433,000 acres in Oklahoma,
which makes them one of the largest landowning families in the entire United States.
In addition to their cattle ranching revenue and all their other business ventures,
the Drummonds also get a hefty fee from the U.S. government, which pays millions of dollars
each year to keep wild horses and donkeys on some of their land, the Tulsa World reports.
Ladd works his tail off on the ranch each and every day.
Even when it's 10 degrees below zero, he wakes up before dawn to feed the cows.
Ree could not be prouder of her hard-working man, writing all about his daily duties on her blog:
"There's no sitting by the fire and sipping hot chocolate — at least not until the work
is done. The dedication is unwavering ... there isn't really an uptick in complaints during
times like these. They just go about their daily work of feeding, often riding in a feed truck by
themselves for hours on end, and they don't stop until the last animal is accounted for and fed."
Both of the Drummonds are huge animal lovers, but they especially love dogs. Over the years, they've
taken in dozens of stray dogs who simply showed up on the ranch. Some of the dog breeds they've owned
have included yellow labs, German shepherds, and basset hounds, according to Ree's blog.
And as much as Ladd loves these furry friends,
they apparently love him just as much. Ree told Us Weekly,
"It's exactly like it was when we had babies, where I do all the work and then he shows up
and they go straight to him. They can hear his spurs, and they just go running to him.
So no, there's no fairness. They associate me with food, and I do meet their needs. They love me,
but if I'm petting them and scratching their ears and Ladd shows up, they're out."
As much as he loves them, there's one thing Ladd won't budge on:
Dogs are not allowed to sleep in the humans' bed. Ever. Not even while he's away on business.
It's hard to imagine a celebrity couple that has had more impact on a
previously unknown destination than the Drummonds,
who are making the teeny town of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, a genuine tourist destination.
The couple is also investing in the town and helping to spruce it up and make it more appealing
to travelers, with Ladd leading the charge. He helped renovate the lodge where The Pioneer
Woman's cooking show is filmed, and he oversaw the building of a hotel in downtown Pawhuska.
The two also opened The Mercantile, which houses a store, a deli and a bakery.
"I told Ree two weeks before we opened, I said,
'We might have lost our mind. I don't know if anybody is coming to Pawhuska.'"
But people come from all over the country — and the world — to visit tiny Pawhuska,
just to see all of these various Pioneer Woman buildings and enterprises.
The couple has really put the small town on the map in a big way.
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