Lana Del Rey‘s ‘jealousy’ has caused an explosive rift between her new husband Jeremy Dufrene and his longtime ex-fiancée, who has been banned from visiting their marital home to see her daughter.
The singer-songwriter, 39, tied the knot with Louisiana-born Dufrene, 49, in front of a small gathering of family and friends on Thursday at the bayou where they first met five years ago during one of his famous swamp tours.
Now, insiders have exclusively revealed Del Rey had been messaging the gator guide throughout the last four years of his 13-year relationship with Kelli Welsh, 45, whose friendship with Dufrene has broken down in the weeks since they started dating.
Welsh, who was blindsided by the news of their backyard nuptials, was also said to be unaware that Del Rey and Dufrene had boxed up the last of her belongings from the house they once shared – including her crystals as they carried her ‘energy.’
‘Jeremy and Lana started talking in 2019, but they never stopped,’ the insider told DailyMail.com. ‘At one point, she messaged him on social media, and told him that she was taking a break for a while, but he can call her anytime.
Lana Del Rey ‘s ‘jealousy’ has caused an explosive rift between her new husband Jeremy Dufrene and his longtime ex-fiancée Kelli Welsh
Insiders have exclusively revealed Del Rey, 39, had been messaging the gator guide, 49, throughout the last four years of his 13-year relationship with Welsh, 45
‘This is while he was engaged to Kelli. Lana knew that Jeremy was engaged. He was very honest about this and had photos of Kelli and the kids on his own social media.’
Welsh and Dufrene started dating as teenagers when she was 16 and he was 19, but they broke up after a year.
He went on to marry his first wife Gina, with whom he has two sons and a daughter.
Within a year of their marriage ending, he rekindled with Welsh in 2011 having maintained contact over the years.
He proposed in 2012, but the teenage sweethearts never married and eventually split last October. Dufrene also raised Welsh’s daughter Alana, now 20, as his own. She still lives with him, while Welsh is now based in Texas.
Their relationship has also become estranged since he started dating Del Rey.
The source claimed Welsh briefly moved to Texas to care for a sick relative, but ended up staying after the distance drove them apart.
But prior to moving, they went on a camping trip together where she told him that she wanted ‘more out of the relationship.’
Welsh’s friendship with Dufrene has broken down in the weeks since he started dating Del Rey (pictured in 2018)
According to the source, Welsh had no idea that he was engaged to Lana and only learned that the two had married the morning after their wedding
’She wanted to start making real true memories with him, but Jeremy just worked all the time, 24/7′ the insider claimed. ‘He put work before anything, including her.’
Del Rey recently moved into the home which he previously shared with Welsh, and the pair have since had all of Welsh’s belongings put into storage, with Welsh banned from visiting.
‘Jeremy told Kelli that she was not allowed to go over to the house after he got together with Lana, which was very upsetting to her,’ the source said.
‘Kelli’s biological daughter Alanna still lives there with Jeremy, who she considers to be her father. But he never adopted her.
‘What is confusing is that Jeremy’s ex-wife Gina was always at the house with her new husband. They were one big, blended family.
‘So, for Kelli to not be allowed does not make sense. Jeremy expressed that Lana was jealous of her because of their long history. So, when she moved into the house, they took all of Kelli’s belongings and put it into storage.
‘Lana was especially keen on ridding the home of Kelli’s crystals. She told Jeremy that the crystals carry so much energy and she needed them gone.
‘She wanted to just start a new life with him and didn’t want any pieces of his past – especially with his ex of more than a decade.’
‘Jeremy told Kelli that she was not allowed to go over to the house after he got together with Lana, which was very upsetting to her,’ the source told DailyMail.com
![The insider continued: 'Jeremy expressed that Lana was jealous of [Welsh] because of their long history'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/09/28/14/90196641-13899699-image-a-1_1727529552612.jpg)
The insider continued: ‘Jeremy expressed that Lana was jealous of [Welsh] because of their long history’
Del Rey first met Dufrene on one of his tours back in 2019 and continued to message him in the years after
The Grammy nominee exchanged vows with Dufrene by the water in Des Allemandes, Louisiana, on Thursday, just one month after they were first pictured together.
Despite tensions, the insider insisted the unlikely couple are very much in love – with the singer on good terms with his children, who she recently flew by private jet to her property in Los Angeles.
The source said: ‘She took him and all the kids, plus all the kid’s significant others, on a private jet to her home in LA where they stayed for a week.
‘She gave the kids a spending allowance of $200 each. They obviously really like her.’
They insisted Dufrene ‘did not marry her for her money,’ but claimed Del Rey has been lavishing him with gifts, including three $3000 suits.
The couple exchanged vows by the water in Des Allemandes – at the same bayou where he operates his popular swamp boat tours
‘He has never owned anything that expensive,’ they added.
‘Jeremy is getting used to living like a king, but there is no way that he will quit his job and let anyone take care of him. It is funny to see him all decked out though.
‘It would be hilarious to see him at the Met Gala with her. Could you imagine?’
But despite Del Rey’s reported $30million fortune enough to buy them a luxurious A-list pad, the newlyweds plan to live in his modest five-bedroom childhood home that he demolished and rebuilt from the ground up in 2020.
‘For most people, the area that Jeremy lives in is a go nowhere town,’ the source said.
‘But Lana likes the fact that she can go out in the town and people do not know who she is. They went to Walmart together and they went to out to eat a couple of times and no one has any idea she is famous, and she likes this.’
The Summertime Sadness singer went public with Dufrene on August 25, when they were spotted holding hands and having a romantic meal together in London after she performed at Reading Festival.
The pair then attended Karen Elson’s wedding earlier this month alongside Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
On Monday, TMZ reported that the unlikely couple had picked up a marriage license.
The newlyweds first met when she performed at the Buku Music + Art Project in Louisiana in March 2019. She went on one of his tours and shared a photo of him kissing an alligator.
DailyMail.com previously revealed that the Grammy nominee didn’t immediately divulge who she was to Dufrene as she found it ‘refreshing’ that the alligator enthusiast had ‘no idea’ who she was.
