Kimberly Schlapman shared some big personal news with Jenna Bush Hager and TODAY viewers. But first, she took a moment to let her parents in on the secret.
During the Jan. 28 episode of TODAY with Jenna & Friends, Jenna asked the Little Big Town singer and guest co-host if she’s ever had a “wild night” while vacationing.
Schlapman admitted that she did have a story to tell but noted that only “four people on the whole Earth know about it,” adding that her parents were in the dark about her secret.
“So I decided before I could say it I needed to call my mama, so I did that, like, 10 minutes ago,” she explained. “And I was like, ‘Mama, is Daddy there? Can he hear me? I have to tell you something.’ And I told her, and she’s like, ‘What?’ And then finally I got more nervous and nervous, and then she started giggling.”
The 55-year-old then shared her big secret on air, revealing that she and her husband, Stephen Schlapman, eloped before getting married in front of family and friends.
“My husband, I call him Schlap. My last name is Schlapman. My late husband’s name was Steve. This one’s name is Steve. I can’t call both of my beautiful husbands Steve. So this is Schlap,” she said. “So Schlap and I got married in November 2006. But six months earlier, we eloped to Vegas.”
Jenna was taken aback and asked, “Wait, your parents didn’t know that till today?”
“Nobody knew. No one knew,” the singer replied.
Amused by the story, Jenna was eager to hear more details.
“Wait, y’all went to Vegas, you had a couple drinks. And what happened?” she asked.
Schlapman went on to explain that the elopement was actually planned.
“We planned that we were going to go because we were meeting some family out at the big, beautiful lake out there. And so Schlap was like, ‘What if we go a day early to get married?’ And I was like, ‘I’ve never done anything bad. Yes! Yes!'” she said.
At the time, members of Little Big Town were booking their own hotel rooms while they were out on the road, so Schlapman decided to let one of her bandmates in on her secret.
“I had to tell Karen (Fairchild) because I wanted a hotel room with my husband, and so she knew,” Schlapman said, adding that she also told her sister the news.
“Your mom didn’t know till today?” Jenna asked.
“My parents found out 10 minutes ago and I’m still shaking thinking about it. But it’s nice to be free of that,” Schlapman said.
Jenna was curious to know if an Elvis Presley impersonator was at the ceremony, and Schlapman confirmed there was one at the reception.
“By the way, I was scared for what was coming, and that was pretty good,” Jenna said about the story.
“It’s pretty good, huh? It’s pretty fun. I’m proud of it,” Schlapman said.
Jenna then asked if Schlapman’s children knew about the elopement, and she said they didn’t.
“Not till now. Yeah, not many folks know. Don’t judge,” Schlapman said.
“No, do not judge. That was amazing,” Jenna said.
“It was beautiful and wonderful and it’s worked out,” Schlapman said.