Who Is Ree Drummond's Husband? All About Ladd Drummond

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo:Ree Drummond Instagram

Ree Drummond Instagram

Ree Drummondand her husband,Ladd Drummond, have been married for nearly three decades — and they are still proving strong.

In a tribute to her husband on their 25th wedding anniversary in 2021,The Pioneer Womanstar penned a loving homage to Ladd.

“It’s been a wild adventure, and we’ve experienced the joys, pains, ups, downs, triumphs, sadnesses, and unexpected twists and turns. (And kids!),” Ree wrote onInstagram. “That whole ‘love’ thing — the love that deepens, expands, and becomes more firmly rooted over time — is definitely there.”

Over the course of their marriage, the two have accomplished a lot, includingraising five children, and each having a successful career — oftentimes in front of cameras. Ree credits their shared faith as the key to a prosperous marriage.

“This isn’t the answer for everybody, butwe go to churchtogether every Sunday,” she told PEOPLE in an exclusive cover story in 2017. “It’s something that we do no matter what comes up. No matter how tired we are. I’ve seen the times that we’ve slipped away from that, and disaster is lurking in the bushes.”

So, who is Ree Drummond’s husband? Here’s everything to know about Ladd Drummond.

He met his wife at a bar

In between moving from Los Angeles to Chicago, Ree returned back home for a few months to Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She linked up with some of her childhood friends for a night out at a local dive bar around Christmas, which is when she first spotted the Wrangler-wearing cowboy from across the bar.

As he sipped on a beer, it was his hands that caught Ree’s attention. “They were big and strong,” she toldThe Pioneer Womanwebsite in 2021. They then got to talking and she felt an instant connection.

Ree thought she’d never see him again after meeting him

After what she thought was a great conversation, Ladd didn’t call Ree in the days that followed. She revealed on her website that she was gearing up to start her new life in the Windy City four months later when she heard from Ladd.

He picked her up for dinner the following evening, and the pair kissed her on her parents’ front porch as the night concluded. Things progressed quickly after that, with Ladd saying “I love you” two weeks later while on his ranch.

“He was just completely different from all the boys I’d been crazy about,” Ree told PEOPLE in 2017. “I don’t mean to make it sound like Maria and Tony inWest Side Story, but I was just sort of like, ‘Oh boy!’ My knees were weak.”

Ree and Ladd got engaged a year and a half later.

They married in 1996

On Sept. 21, 1996, the pair wed in an Episcopal church ceremony.

“Ladd and his college friends were in the men’s locker room almost the whole reception to watch the game. They were so excited,” she shared.

He is a cattle rancher

Ladd is a multi-generational cattle rancher on his family’s ranch, Drummond Land & Cattle Co., which he co-owns with his brother Tim. Headquartered in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, the ranch was passed down fromtheir father Chuck.

Citing records, PEOPLE reported in a 2017 cover story that the Drummonds were one of the top 20 land-owning families in the country, with a combined 400,000 acres.

He and Ree share five children together

Ree and Ladd have five children — daughtersAlexandPaige, sonsBryceandTodd, andfoster son Jamar.

The kids grew up around the Food Network cameras, giving viewers a glimpse into their lives, including working on the family ranch.

Now, anempty nester, Ree can frequently be seen taking her children’s spot, giving Ladd a helping hand.

“Kids please come back, Dad’s making me go to work with him now,” shecaptioned a photoof her and Ladd.

He and Ree raised their kids in Ladd’s childhood home

Ree and Ladd raised their children in the house Ladd grew up in on their ranch.

The house, which was nearly half a century old, needed extensive repairs, however, which ultimately led the Drummond family to move.

“It wasn’t a charming 50-year-old house. We lovedraising our kids in the house, but it had foundation problems and had developed a few problems that were going to be pretty overwhelming to fix,” Ree previously told PEOPLE in 2022.

He’s nicknamed the “Marlboro Man”

Over the years, Ree has affectionately and publicly referred to her husband as the “Marlboro Man” — a nickname that originated from one of her good friends.

As she was developing her blog years later, she wrote about her husband under that pseudonym.

“Way back then I thought you should never reveal your real name on the internet, so I just referred to Ladd as Marlboro Man.”

He was in an accident while fighting a wildfire

In March 2021, Ladd and his nephew Caleb were responding to a fire near their family farm, each driving a Himmat Fire Truck.

Caleb was driving southbound while Ladd was driving northbound. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol report,the trucks collided “head-on”due to “high winds on a gravel road” which decreased visibility.

The report noted that neither was wearing a seatbelt and Caleb was ejected from the truck, sustaining head, arm, leg and internal injuries. Ladd denied medical treatment on the scene.

Ladd broke his neck in two places and was transferred to a Tulsa hospital to have surgery.

“For both Caleb and Ladd to be okay — injured, yes, but fixable — after seeing the condition of their trucks makes me not want to spend one second complaining. I can’t even be mad at Ladd for driving himself to the hospital with a broken neck. I’m just so glad I’m home with him,” Ree wrote.

He and his wife own several businesses in their hometown

In addition to taking care of their sprawling ranch, the pair also own several businesses in their hometown.

In 2016, Ree and Ladd opened a bakery, restaurant and retail store calledThe Pioneer Woman Mercantile— dubbed “The Merc.”

“When I envisionputting a plate of my foodin front of a customer or guest, it really takes it to a whole other level because I want them to feel like their trip here was worth it,” Ree previously shared with PEOPLE.

She added that she really believes in the project and works hard to make sure it lives up to expectations. “It’s part of our souls at this point,” Ree added.

Located three doors down from The Mercantile, the couple also owns an eight-bedroom hotel called theBoarding House, which opened its doors in 2018.

Each room has aunique theme— the boudoir, the butterfly room, the drugstore room, the emerald room, the photograph room, the prairie room, the ranch room and the tack room, which are all decorated accordingly.

While Drummond had a hand in creating the room service menu to include classics like biscuits and gravy, Ladd took the lead on renovating the three-story, 1920s building.

“I have had almost zero to do with it aside from an occasional ‘Oooooh, neato!’ ”Ree wroteon her blog. “The helpfulness of my contributions can not be underestimated.”

The Drummonds also own P-Town Pizza — a pizza joint established in 2018, where they occasionallyhave date night— plus Charlie’s Sweet Shop, an ice cream and candy shop opened in 2019 in memory oftheir Basset Hound, Charlie. The pair later opened upThe Lodge— the site where Ree films her show — to the public, thanks to Ladd.

“The Lodge is 18 miles out of town on an unpaved road. I thought somebody would get a flat tire,”she shared on her blog. “But Ladd pointed out that people are coming all the way to Pawhuska to visit our store and restaurant. He wanted to expand their experience.”

He encouraged his wife to start her blog

The blog, which chronicled her life on the ranch and eventually grew into posting recipes and lifestyle tips, took off. By 2011, her blog was amassing 23 million page views per month.

“The optics of our marriage are that it is very traditional,” she previously told PEOPLE. “But in many ways, [it] is anything but traditional.”

He and Ree became grandparents in 2024

Ree Drummond and Ladd Drummond with their granddaughter Sofia.Ree Drummond/ Instagram

Ree Drummond/ Instagram

The couple’s daughter Alex and her husband, Mauricio Scott, welcomed their first child,Sofia Marie, on Dec. 18, 2024.

source: people.com