Little Big Town’s Kimberly Schlapman Reveals the Secret About Her Marriage She’s Kept From Her Parents and Kids Since 2006

Mar. 15, 2025

Kimberly Schlapman.Photo:Catherine Powell/Getty

Catherine Powell/Getty

Kimberly Schlapmanis spilling the beans on a secret she’s kept for nearly two decades.While co-hostingToday with Jenna & Friendson Tuesday, Jan. 28, theLittle Big Townvocalist  revealed toJenna Bush Hagersomething that she’s kept secret from her parents and children since 2006. After being asked if she’s “ever had a wild night on vacation,” Schlapman decided it was time to share her story.“When we talked about this earlier, I started shaking, my hands started shaking. I got really nervous,” Schlapman admitted. “I was like, ‘I do have a story,’ but, like, four people on the whole earth know about it. Not my parents, not my mama and daddy.“Ten minutes before the show aired, Schlapman rushed to her phone to call her parents. She wanted them to hear the story directly from her before they saw it on television.“I was like, ‘Mama, is Daddy there, can he hear me? I have to tell you something,' " she recalled. “And I told her and she was like, ‘What?!’ And then finally I got more nervous and nervous and then she started giggling. And I was like, ‘Okay.’ So Schlap and I got married — my husband, I call him Schlap, our 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 men Steve, so this is Schlap. So Schlap and I got married November 2006, but six months earlier we eloped to Vegas.“Stephen Schlapman and Kimberly Schlapman.Jason Kempin/GettySchlapman confirmed that until today, almost “no one”  — including her kids — knew about her elopement in Las Vegas.The country music star says that her decision to elope wasn’t a last-minute one.“We planned it,” she said. “We planned it because we were meeting some family out at the big beautiful lake out there. So Schlap was like, ‘What if we go a day early to get married.’ And I was like, ‘I’ve never done anything bad!’ And I was like, ‘Yes, yes.’ “Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.She continued: “And we kept the secret a really long time. And then — this was back when we were booking hotel rooms with Little Big Town, I had to tell Karen [Fairchild] because I wanted a hotel room with my husband. And so she knew and like one other person, I told my sister.“Kimberly Schlapman and Stephen Schlapman.Jeff Kravitz/ACMA2018/FilmMagicEven though Schlapman said she was “still shaking” thinking about how she just revealed her long-kept secret to her parents, she noted it was “nice to be free of that.“Her “beautiful and wonderful” elopement even had an Elvis impersonator at the reception.Schlapman and her husband, Stephen, formally got married on a private Caribbean island on Nov. 28, 2006, a repconfirmed to PEOPLEat the time. The pair sharedaughtersDaisy Pearl and Dolly Grace.Schlapman’sfirst husband, Steven Roads, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 41 in April 2005. He had been her band’s lawyer.

Kimberly Schlapmanis spilling the beans on a secret she’s kept for nearly two decades.

While co-hostingToday with Jenna & Friendson Tuesday, Jan. 28, theLittle Big Townvocalist  revealed toJenna Bush Hagersomething that she’s kept secret from her parents and children since 2006. After being asked if she’s “ever had a wild night on vacation,” Schlapman decided it was time to share her story.

“When we talked about this earlier, I started shaking, my hands started shaking. I got really nervous,” Schlapman admitted. “I was like, ‘I do have a story,’ but, like, four people on the whole earth know about it. Not my parents, not my mama and daddy.”

Ten minutes before the show aired, Schlapman rushed to her phone to call her parents. She wanted them to hear the story directly from her before they saw it on television.

“I was like, ‘Mama, is Daddy there, can he hear me? I have to tell you something,' " she recalled. “And I told her and she was like, ‘What?!’ And then finally I got more nervous and nervous and then she started giggling. And I was like, ‘Okay.’ So Schlap and I got married — my husband, I call him Schlap, our 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 men Steve, so this is Schlap. So Schlap and I got married November 2006, but six months earlier we eloped to Vegas.”

Stephen Schlapman and Kimberly Schlapman.Jason Kempin/Getty

Jason Kempin/Getty

Schlapman confirmed that until today, almost “no one”  — including her kids — knew about her elopement in Las Vegas.

The country music star says that her decision to elope wasn’t a last-minute one.

“We planned it,” she said. “We planned it because we were meeting some family out at the big beautiful lake out there. So Schlap was like, ‘What if we go a day early to get married.’ And I was like, ‘I’ve never done anything bad!’ And I was like, ‘Yes, yes.’ "

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

She continued: “And we kept the secret a really long time. And then — this was back when we were booking hotel rooms with Little Big Town, I had to tell Karen [Fairchild] because I wanted a hotel room with my husband. And so she knew and like one other person, I told my sister.”

Kimberly Schlapman and Stephen Schlapman.Jeff Kravitz/ACMA2018/FilmMagic

Jeff Kravitz/ACMA2018/FilmMagic

Even though Schlapman said she was “still shaking” thinking about how she just revealed her long-kept secret to her parents, she noted it was “nice to be free of that.”

Her “beautiful and wonderful” elopement even had an Elvis impersonator at the reception.

Schlapman and her husband, Stephen, formally got married on a private Caribbean island on Nov. 28, 2006, a repconfirmed to PEOPLEat the time. The pair sharedaughtersDaisy Pearl and Dolly Grace.

Schlapman’sfirst husband, Steven Roads, died suddenly of a heart attack at age 41 in April 2005. He had been her band’s lawyer.

source: people.com