'Pioneer Woman' Ree Drummond's mother allegedly left her husband for family's pastor

The daughter may have a wonderful marriage, but the mother was faced with a huge scandal regarding her own relationships.

Ree Drummond’s mother Gerre Smith divorced her husband of 33 years, William Smith, in 1996, all because she fell in love with their family’s pastor.

Fox News revealed that William did not want to give in and sign the divorce papers at first. In fact, he even stated in his court documents that he wanted to continue a loving and supportive marriage with his wife.

Although, in 1997, William finally agreed to the divorce. After two years, Gerre went on to marry the pastor named Doug Schwert.

Gerre’s second marriage caused quite a scandal in their hometown, especially since Schwert was also married to his wife for two decades before he left her for Gerre.

Gerre and Schwert supposedly became close after their frequent meetups during church functions.

“Gerre and [Rev.] Doug would go to different committees and meetings together. They would end up at the same place. They were thrown together on different occasions,” said a churchgoer to Fox News in 1997.

It came as no surprise when a lot of the people within the church were not happy with Gerre and Schwert’s marriage. They ended up packing their bags and moving from Oklahoma to Tennessee.

Gerre’s former husband, William, eventually moved on and also had a second partner.

As for Ree, she revealed that she is happily married to her husband, Ladd Drummond, a cattle ranch owner. They exchanged vows in 1996.

Talking about how they maintained such a long and lasting relationship, Ree shared that the secret is to always make time for each other no matter how busy the both of you get.

Ree also explained what they frequently do during date nights. She said, “We’re going to sound so old when I say this, but it’s going to Tulsa and having a big steak dinner and beautiful wine and dessert."