Ree Drummond and Sister Betsy Share an Unbreakable Bond—Here’s Why She Means Everything to The Pioneer Woman
The Food Network star's little sister means the world to her—and their connection will melt your heart
If you’re a fan of the Pioneer Woman, then you know that her family means the world to her. Whether it’s her husband Ladd, her daughters Paige and Alex, sons Bryce, Todd and Jamar or her sweet granddaughter baby Sofia, there’s a whole lot of love in Ree Drummond’s heart. However, the person who stole her heart first was none other than her sister Betsy. While Betsy has appeared on Ree’s show, The Pioneer Woman, a handful of times, when the cameras aren’t rolling, their bond is even stronger than it looks on-screen. Here, take a look at Ree Drummond’s relationship with Betsy and what she’s said over the years about her sweet sister.
All about Ree Drummond’s sister, Betsy Lee Smith
If you’ve caught Ree alongside her sister on The Pioneer Woman, the friendship between them is evident, and in the past, Ree has been open about all that her little sister means to her. If you see these two side by side, the only thing that truly differentiates the duo is Ree’s fiery locks that contrast Betsy’s raven hair, but their resemblance is only one piece of what makes them two peas in a pod.
In a post Ree shared last year celebrating Betsy’s birthday, the television personality, blogger and chef had nothing but kindness to share about her sister, and her message truly highlighted what it means to have a sister, calling Betsy her “eternally youthful, joyful, brilliant, generous, selfless, hilarious sister!!” She continued, “Bets, I love you more than I could ever articulate, and the idea of a world without you in it does not even compute. I seriously can’t fathom it. Happy birthday!!! Call me later so we can gripe about absolutely nothing important, talk about the stupidest things, and laugh at things no one else thinks are funny!!!”
Ree loves Betsy’s son like her own
Though Ree is kept busy with her children and grandbaby, there’s always room in her heart for her nephew, Betsy’s son, Elliot. “Having a sister who loves my child about as much as I do and would do anything for him is a source of endless gratitude,” Betsy wrote in the caption of a photo of Elliot and Ree. “The other thing, though, is that she has this way, with kids and teens, of making them feel appreciated in an easy, genuine and pure way. She delights in connecting with them. It’s an art and a practice and a gift, and I’m glad he has that in his life. I’m always a little sad that he can’t see her every day or every week. But we’ll take what we can get.”
Though Betsy and Ree live in different states, spending so much time apart through the year, something that was made even worse during the pandemic, made the two sisters reevaluate the distance. In 2022, Ree and Betsy purchased a home in Oklahoma that they fixed up so that Betsy and Elliot would have a place to stay when they came and visited.
Betsy inspires Ree in the kitchen
Have you ever loved someone so much you named a recipe after them? Ree has! Way back in 2007 on her blog, Ree shared a recipe in honor of her baby sis, Penne a la Betsy. As Ree remembers it, before her sister left for college, she wanted to impart some of her knowledge as a “food snob extraordinaire” on Betsy, and this vodka sauce pasta with shrimp was one of the recipes she taught her to make. “Betsy graduated from college, lived in various big cities, and now resides in Austin, Texas with her tech-nerd husband, Matt, where she spends her days cooking all the food snob dishes I so unselfishly taught her to make so many years ago. And she calls me as she’s eating them and makes me cry real tears. Then I go fry up another pork chop and get over myself,” Ree joked in the post.
Whether they’re spending time together in the kitchen or embarking on some other adventure, it’s clear that the bond between these two will never be broken. “I just found out my flight back home tomorrow morning has been canceled. But somehow, with my sister here, I’m not wigging out and banging my head against the hotel room door like I would be if I were here by my lonesome,” Ree wrote in a blog post back in 2011 detailing a trip to New York with her confidante. “And even if it comes to that, I know Betsy will be the first one to bring me some Tylenol. Sisters are good like that.”
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