Drummond spoke with ET about her major transformation and what motivated her to get healthier.
Ree Drummond is sharing the story behind her 50-pound weight loss. The Pioneer Woman star spoke with ET's Rachel Smith about the family highs and lows that motivated her to get healthier. While Drummond was trying to shed some weight for her daughter, Alex's, wedding, it was the crash on her family's ranch that left husband Ladd and nephew Caleb in critical condition that propelled her into an unexpected fitness journey.
"I was actually getting in shape, trying to get in shape," Drummond said of the pre-wedding prep she was doing when the accident happened. "And so [Ladd] was in his neck brace kind of immobilized, but he was training me in the living room telling me to get lower with my lunges and my squats. He was like, 'You're not doing it right!' So he was sort of my unexpected trainer during that whole ordeal. But he did get to walk Alex down the aisle, and that's all that really mattered in the end."
Getting healthy was something that was actually on Drummond's mind long before the crash. The Food Network star told ET that she had a rock bottom moment that changed everything for her.
"I have a cooking show, I write cookbooks, I have a cooking website. I have a restaurant, a bakery. So you know, it just kept creeping up and in January of this year, we took my son, Bryce, to college. And I tell this story, but I basically hit rock bottom eating chips and salsa one night. I went a little overboard, but I thought that night, 'I am going to start tomorrow, I am doing something different.' And I just started and I almost lost 60 pounds now," she revealed.
Drummond told ET she not only feels great, but has a whole new outlook on food and fitness.
"I feel great and that's what matters. The scale was sort of a gauge for me that I was heading in the right direction. And it was never about I have to lose this amount, it's really about how I feel," she shared. "I feel great, I have, I feel strong. Even when I was thinner, I don't think I ever have been a squatter or a lunger before. Not since my ballet days. So it's really nice to just kind of feel the muscles that I thought were gone forever."
Drummond continued, "It changes your whole outlook just having the routine of exercise in your day and, you know, I still eat the foods that I cook my family. I still eat cake. I just eat a Rhode Island-sized piece instead of a Texas-sized piece."
Drummond is preparing for another adventure, her first acting role. The cooking show phenom is set to star in Discovery+'s first original movie with Food Network, Candy Coated Christmas. The holiday movie will see Drummond playing the owner of a bakery who befriends a young woman (Molly McCook), who returns to her mother’s home town of Peppermint Hollow, and introduces her around town.
"It's definitely my first movie. I am not an actor, I am the host of a cooking show, but when Food Network asked if I wanted to participate in their first Christmas movie, I think I said yes in like point two seconds," Drummond revealed. "And even though I knew I couldn't act, and I knew I had no experience whatsoever, I just thought, 'How could you say no to that?' I mean, Christmas movies are just such a part of tradition and I have friends that are so obsessed with them, so I said yes and then I thought, 'What in the world have I done?'"
Drummond prepared for the role with a little bit of coaching from the film's director and a lot of encouragement from her family.
"I was sent the script for the Christmas movie right off the bat, so I could read about my character's involvement, and it is a small part which helps my nerves a little bit. I'm not carrying this picture by any means," she said. "I had a call with Ellie, the writer and director, and we literally just read through the lines on Zoom. She really kinda coached me through the scenes and gave me things to think about and so when I landed here in Utah, I kinda had that moment where I thought, 'There's literally no going back now,' and I'm actually gonna have to act."
"My girls were saying, 'Go Mom, you've got this, slay queen,' and my youngest said, 'Go Momma,' and Jamar was encouraging, and then Bryce, my 18 year-old said, 'Don't say anything cheesy, please.' So that was like the last message I received from my supportive family," Drummond added.
You can catch Drummond when Candy Coated Christmas hits Discovery+ this November.
Tune in to Wednesday's Entertainment Tonight for more of ET's interview with Drummond.
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