Reba McEntire gushes over fiance Rex Linn after engagement
Reba McEntire opened up about engagement to boyfriend Rex Linn at the age of 70.
“I’ve never been loved by a man like Rex Linn,” she said People on Tuesday, Oct. 21, noting that Linn, 68, popped the question late last year. (The couple waited until last month to make the news public.)
McEntire, 70, gushed about her connection with Linn. “Rex is a very gentle man, and I just love him with all my heart,” she continued. “He’s a good guy. But very shy.”
As he reflected on their relationship, McEntire said he continued to work with Linn Happy’s place only made things better, adding, “Wherever we go, that’s our Happy’s Place. Getting to work with Rex, driving to work with Rex and doing the show, the rehearsals, driving home, talking about it, rehearsing together – that’s what’s really special to me. I’ve never had that before.”
McEntire and Linn first met during the filming of 1991 The gambler returns: the luck of the drawbut they didn’t pursue a romance until almost three decades later. The singer was previously married to Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987 and music manager Narvel Blackstock from 1989 to 2015. She shares son Shelby, born in 1990, with Blackstock.
After reconnecting, McEntire and Linn have had fun on the same projects, including Big sky And Happy’s place.
“Rex and I are best friends. We have the same likes and dislikes. We are foodies. We love to cook. We both wanted to be a cowboy and a cowgirl,” McEntire shared exclusively We weekly in an October 2024 cover story. “That’s when we entered the entertainment business. Our dynamic works both on-screen and off.”
Rex Linn and Reba McEntire,
John Shearer/WireImageMcEntire shared with Us about how Linn changed her for the better.
“Rex brings out the little girl in me, and I have fun. I’m a goofball, I’m goofy. He is too. We love to laugh, and we love each other,” she explained. “We both love watching TV. We are always looking for a new series or movie to watch. He says it’s his homework, watching other actors and learning from them. I do it for pure enjoyment.”
While attending the Emmys in September, McEntire and Linn subtly confirmed that they had taken their romance to the next level. McEntire told People that she is “happier now than I have ever been in my life.”
Reba McEntire and Rex Linn first crossed paths 30 years before they started dating. McEntire met the actor while filming 1991’s The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, but didn’t pursue romance until January 2020. “We’ve kept in touch over the years and we both know the same people, so […]
“It’s amazing. It’s great to be 70 and be able to do what I’m allowed to do at the level that I want to do,” she said of working on her NBC sitcom. “And with Melissa Peterman on the show and Rex Linn… we’re a close-knit family, an acting team, and we have so much fun together. It’s normal. Every time I step on that set, I feel like home. It’s my happy place.”
McEntire was also asked about possible retirement plans.
“I don’t know when. It could be 20 years from now,” McEntire said. ‘I think I know when the time is, Dolly [Parton] and I talked about that a lot when she did the Reba show, and I said, ‘Are you retiring?’ She said, ‘Why should I? What in the world could I do and have as much fun as what I’m doing in this job?’”
She continued, “I agree with her 100 percent. Take it easy maybe, but no plans to retire. I love this chapter in my life. I’m very grateful.”
