EXCLUSIVE: ‘Pioneer Woman’ Star Ree Drummond Is Getting Her Own Barbie Doll
Pioneer Woman star Ree Drummond now has her very own Barbie doll.
The Barbie Pioneer Woman Kitchen Playset features the doll, a kitchen, and lots of accessories.
You can buy them now, exclusively at Walmart.
When Ree Drummond first saw the Barbie doll inspired by her, she sent it back for a new wardrobe. The doll was sporting sneakers and a T-shirt, and that’s not very Pioneer Woman.
“I immediately said, ‘You know, I wear sneakers maybe if I work out, and who knows when that’s going to be?’” Drummond tells Delish. So Barbie got jeans, boots, and a loose-fitting top, to better mimic her namesake's style. That outfit, plus her red hair and bright-colored kitchen, means you can’t mistake this Barbie for anyone else.
Chances are, you probably have something Drummond dreamed up in your kitchen right now. The Food Network star has a kitchenware line for Walmart, multiple cookbooks, and even her own Instant Pot. And now kids can, too, thanks to the new Barbie playset and two accessory sets that can send young fans straight to her ranch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Sold exclusively at Walmart and at Walmart.com, the Barbie Pioneer Woman Kitchen Playset ($44.88, walmart.com) features the doll inspired by Drummond and more than 30 accessories, like a toaster that pops up “toast" and a spinning mixer.
There’s also a pasta accessory set ($9.99, walmart.com) which features a bowl of pasta, a cooking pot, and a floral apron. "Carbs are my life, so with noodles, it all works," Drummond says.
And there’s a barbecue accessory set ($9.97, walmart.com) that features hamburgers, hot dogs, and an apron inspired by Drummond’s late Basset hound, Charlie. (Charlie died last year, and the Drummond family has two other Basset hounds at their ranch.)
When Drummond heard Mattel wanted to work with her, she immediately went back to her Barbie-obsessed childhood, and especially when she played Barbies with her sister, who is six years younger. “My younger sister, when she got them as gifts, I was too old to play with them, but I did anyway,” she says. “I remember spending hours with the Barbie Dream Home and the camping sets when I was younger.”
Now that she’s a mother of four, Drummond's children are the ones excited about the playsets-even though they might be a little old for them, too. Drummond says her oldest daughter, 21-year-old Alex, asked her to save a few sets so she can give them to her friends for Christmas. And her youngest son, 14-year-old Todd, saw the sets and started identifying what was already in their kitchen at home.
That’s because Drummond tweaked each item over a year and a half to better reflect her specific aesthetic. (Even though Drummond admits the doll doesn’t look much like her, aside from the hair.) But her favorite item in the playset is the simple, black, cast-iron skillet. "The cast-iron skillet makes me smile, because you have this bright, colorful kitchen and a black skillet," she says. "Everything may change, but a cast-iron skillet will never change."
Drummond realized kids were taking notice of her show when she went on a tour last year to promote her cookbook. Nearly everyone in attendance seemed to have their young children with them-and that’s because families sit down together to watch The Pioneer Woman, whether it's for the food, the farm animals, or the down-home atmosphere.
And even if the kids aren’t binge-watching The Pioneer Woman or scanning her blog for recipes, Drummond says she hopes the playset helps them imagine new things to make in their home kitchens. “I hope [the playset] makes people smile, whether they give it as a gift to their daughter or granddaughter or if kids see it,” she says. “I hope it inspires fun.”
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