It's hard to imagine Ree Drummond, the host of Food Network's hit show "The Pioneer Woman," without her iconic red hair.
But Drummond, who turned 50 this year, recently shared a surprising snap from the early 2000s where she's sporting brunette locks on a visit to Yellowstone National Park with her daughters.
The natural redhead, who said she'd just dyed her hair dark brown before a trip to the popular park, looks shockingly different in the Instagram post — but many of her fans are loving the vintage look.
"I had just dyed my hair dark brown, and Bryce was a sweet little 9-month old nugget whom we’d left at the hotel in Teton Village with Ladd’s mom that day," Drummond posted. "The girls both got sick (stomach bug!) while we were in Yellowstone, but by golly, I wasn’t leaving without this photo!"
Drummond also noted in the photo caption that she hoped the image would inspire parents of young children to just try to enjoy the moment whenever possible. "Sweet times, happy times, and I’d go back and do it all again in a heartbeat if I could," said the cookbook author.
Meanwhile, the photo has racked up almost 120,000 comments and hundreds of supportive comments (though, of course, many of them are celebrating her sweet sentiment about family time).
"Love it and the brown hair," one fan posted.
"I thought this was your sister!" another said. Drummond's sister Betsy has darker brown hair.
Another follower added, "Girl, you are and have always been a TOTAL BABE!!!"
In 2006, Drummond posted a different photo where she's sporting a much darker shader of her signature ginger mane.
And as evidenced by this photo of Drummond as a younger girl, it's clear that she's always had an eye-catching hair color. However, now that she's older, she's explained that she keeps her locks vibrant by dying to hide the gray and takes extra care to keep her hair in good health.
Back in 2012, Drummond posted on her blog that her hair had way too many split ends and appeared damaged, which she felt may have been due to the hard water at her home.
Drummond began using a vinegar/water rinse on her hair and, within a week, she claimed that the homemade concoction added both shine and thickness to her locks. She also worked hard to limit coloring and heat styling for awhile to allow her strands time to recover from the damage.
Clearly Drummond is pretty committed to her signature red locks now, though. Today, her own Barbie play set comes with a doll that has vibrant red hair.
But, we suppose no matter what color the Pioneer Woman's hair is, we'll always love her totally comforting spin on classic recipes, from sweet cinnamon rolls to spicy pulled pork made in a slow cooker.
