‘Yellowstone’ Fans Wonder: Was Ree Drummond the Inspiration Behind the Dutton Family?
Drummond is a self-proclaimed fan of the show, which we can totally understand!
Chances are that if you’ve seen both The Pioneer Woman and Yellowstone, you’ve recognized a lot of similarities between them. Not only are both shows centered around a midwestern family whose last name starts with D, but they both also live on ranches with a lot of their extended family. We investigate if they are actually connected below!
What is ‘The Pioneer Woman?’
The Pioneer Woman is a cooking show that follows Ree Drummond and the rest of her family around their Oklahoma-based ranch. Currently in the middle of its 39th season, it’s available to stream on Max.
“When you are the main person who cooks in your household, it just makes life more worth living,” Ree told TODAY in 2023.
Along with Ree, the show showcases her husband Ladd and their kids, Alex, Paige, Todd and Bryce. Also in the Drummond family is Alex’s husband, Mauricio Scott, and their newborn baby, Sophia.
“When your firstborn has a baby that looks exactly like she looked, you get to relive all the delicious feelings of first-time motherhood, but without the sleep deprivation, hormones and confusion,” Ree wrote on Instagram in March 2025. “I didn’t think I was ready yet to cross over to the granny side of the street, but Lord in Heaven…I am loving it and I’m so grateful for this gift.”
Ree is currently 56 years old and often posts about her life, children and grandchildren on her website and social media accounts.
What is ‘Yellowstone’ about?
Yellowstone is a Montana-based Western show created by Taylor Sheridan. It follows the Dutton family as they deal with life as modern-day ranchers and stars Kevin Costner as John Dutton III, Wes Bentley as Jamie Dutton, Kelly Reilly as Beth Dutton and Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton.
“I have made true life-long friends. I’ve had support from the crew and the trust and dedication of the cast. The words I got to say and the woman I got to inhabit—it changed me,” Reilly shared of her time on the show, per PEOPLE. “It lit me up. It challenged me in every way possible and I will forever be grateful for it [and for] Taylor Sheridan, who took a chance on me and continued to write her in ways [that allowed me]to feel on fire as an actor. Thank you, Taylor.”
Following the debut of Yellowstone in 2018, Sheridan released several prequel shows entitled 1883 (2021) and 1923 (2022 to 2025). There are also several others in the works, including 1944, The Madison, 6666 (pronounced four sixes), one about Beth and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) and one about Kayce.
Release and plots surrounding these shows remain unclear as of publication.
Is ‘Yellowstone’ based on ‘The Pioneer Woman?’
Despite the similarities between the two, there is no official connection between Yellowstone and The Pioneer Woman. In fact, Sheridan actually pulled from his own life to create both the Dutton Family and their ranch.
“Life imitating art was never my intention,” the writer joked to The Hollywood Reporter in June 2023. “Because it has cowboys and this is supposed to be a dead genre, right? Of course, that’s not what the show is really about; that’s just the sugar on the pill.”
“My stories have a very simple plot that is driven by the characters as opposed to characters driven by a plot—the antithesis of the way television is normally modeled,” he continued. “I’m really interested in the dirty of the relationships in literally every scene. But when you hire a room that may not be motivated by those same qualities—and a writer always wants to take ownership of something they’re writing—and I give this directive and they’re not feeling it, then they’re going to come up with their own qualities. So for me, writers’ rooms, they haven’t worked.”
Just because they aren’t based on each other doesnt mean that Drummond isn’t a fan. In fact, the mother of four has even posted about her love and admiration for the show on her social media. She also once said that her show is like “Yellowstone meets Leave it to Beaver meets…Real Housewives?”
The more you know!
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