Photo: Joseph Okpako/WireImage
It seems that Lana Del Rey does not really have a “type” in the traditional sense. In recent years, she’s dated a cop, she got engaged to a guy who was in a YouTube cover band, then she dated a different musician, and then she got engaged again, this time to a musician and agent. Sure, you might look at that and think, Sounds like she likes musicians, actually. But Del Rey is going to zig when you want her to zag. Now, it looks like she is (almost) married to a guy who gives alligator tours on an airboat in Louisiana. Congrats to the happy couple — but how exactly did they get here?
He went on her work trip
In August, Del Rey was spotted holding hands with Jeremy Dufrene backstage at Leeds Festival in the U.K. The moment was captured by an excited fan who seemingly couldn’t care less about Dufrene.
The Daily Mail reported that the couple was also spotted shopping at Harrods in London and eating together at a local pub. The r/LanaDelRey sub-Reddit supplied photos of the outing and was quick to deliver judgments about the singer’s new man and his appearance (he looks like what you imagine a Louisiana gator professional might look like).
“I love her but she really has the weirdest taste in men,” wrote one commenter. “She’s cosplaying swamp so she has a reason to use it for the album,” wrote another, referring to Del Rey’s upcoming country album, Lasso.
They actually met years ago
Now, how does Lana Del Rey meet a guy who gives alligator tours? Beside the fact that she seems like the kind of person who would be into that kind of man, the answer is pretty simple. Back in 2019, Del Rey went on an alligator tour given by Dufrene. In a Facebook post from the time, she wrote, “Jeremy lemme be captain at Arthur’s Air Boat Tours” alongside a photo of her driving the boat with Dufrene at her side (the company is actually called Airboat Tours by Arthur, but who cares). So these two actually go way back.
It looks as though the pair reconnected earlier this year, when Del Rey went back on the alligator tour in May ahead of her appearance at Hangout Music Festival in Alabama. She even tagged him in her caption on Instagram, referring to him as “my guy.”
After the rumored relationship made headlines, TMZ shared a video of Dufrene on one of his tours. In the video, he lures an enormous gator onto the boat with a piece of raw chicken before giving it a little kiss on the snout and sending it back to the water. “I’m gonna shit,” says one of the terrified passengers. Dufrene, meanwhile, is cool as a cucumber. I do see how you could watch this man do his job and think to yourself, That’s hot.
Lana hopped in the comments
Last week, Del Rey (sort of) addressed the rumors that she’s dating Dufrene. The Instagram account @thejustnlife, which posts a mix of celebrity news and lifestyle content, shared a post with the headline “Further Details About Lana Del Rey’s Latest Boyfriend, Jeremy, Have Been Revealed.” It included a screenshot from someone who had gone viral claiming to be Dufrene’s daughter on X, saying, “I barely talk to my dad let alone care about his love life life. i’m just shocked WHO he’s dating.”
In the comments of that post, Del Rey just wrote, “No.” She followed that up with, “Also, that’s not his daughter on Twitter.” It’s unclear if “No” means that she’s not dating him or that she objects to the post in general. I wonder if she got served this post on her “Explore” page and felt the need to comment.
Shortly after her IG comment, we learned that she did not mean, “No, I’m not dating him.” Del Rey brought Dufrene as her guest to model Karen Elson’s wedding at Electric Lady Studios in New York. I have to say, he cleans up well. Not only was Del Rey hard-launching her new man, but she was also introducing him to the most famous woman alive. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were at the wedding too, and I’d love to know what they all talked about. Will Tayvis be the next celebs to go on an alligator tour?
They got married???
Well, almost. On Thursday, TMZ reported that Del Rey and Dufrene got a marriage license at the Lafourche Parish Clerk of Court earlier in the week ($32, cash only, per the website). According to the gossip site, they have yet to return the license, meaning they’re not officially wed. It does mean that they could be getting married this weekend, though. A late-September wedding in Louisiana — this is the sort of thing people used to write plays about.
This post has been updated.
