Reba McEntire is feeling good headed into 2024, telling PEOPLE earlier this month that she has a whole lot of reasons to be happy.
“I’m at a really good place in my life,” the country icon shared. “I’m happy, I’m in love. My kids are all healthy. My family’s healthy. So I’m happy.”
That’s a feeling she hopes to maintain throughout the next year, opening up about her professional and personal resolutions for 2024. “Professional would be to continue doing what I love to do. Say no to the things that won’t be fun. Say yes to the things that will be,” she said. “Personal is to have fun — just continue being happy and healthy. That’s what I pray for daily.”
How Did Reba McEntire Meet Her Boyfriend Rex?
McEntire and Linn first met while filming the Kenny Rogers movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw in 1991 and reconnected in Los Angeles in January of 2020. When the pandemic began, they started getting to know each other virtually before eventually meeting back up in person, and they’ve been together ever since.
Will The Couple Ever Get Married?
While they’re happily dating, McEntire isn’t sure if they’ll ever get married — according to her, you’ll have to ask Linn.
“That would be up to him,” McEntire said during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen after two fans asked her if she would ever get married again. “I’ve been married twice, he’s never been married, so if he wants to, that’s totally up to him.”
Cohen followed up by asking the singer if it was a “head-scratcher” for her when she began dating Linn knowing he had never been married. “Was it a head-scratcher?” she replied. “Well, yeah, kinda. We talked it out.”
Reba And Rex Have Talked About Getting Married
McEntire was married to Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987 and Narvel Blackstock from 1989 to 2015 and shares son Shelby with Blackstock. The “Fancy” singer previously discussed a potential marriage to Linn while speaking with Extra in 2021.
“We’ve talked about [marriage] and giggled about it,” she shared. “We thought, ‘Man if we ever had a ceremony, we would have to have a 2 o’clock, 4 o’clock, 6 o’clock and at 8 o’clock ‘cause we have so many friends, acquaintances, and family.”
She also opened up about a few of the things she and Linn have in common. “He loves to work, I love to work… We were both wannabe cowboys, cowgirls and then got into the entertainment business,” she said. “We have a lot of similar loves and passions… [and] we just get along so well, and I’m just very grateful.”
McEntire Previously Admitted “I Love [Rex] With All My Heart”
In October, she called Linn “a very supportive man” while speaking with PEOPLE and gushed, “I love him with all my heart.”
McEntire recently wrapped up her first season as a coach on The Voice and shared how her boyfriend helped her unwind after a day of filming. “Rex meets me at the garage when I get out of the car,” she said. “He’ll fix me a drink if I need it.”
“He’ll sit there and talk to me because I’ve talked my head off all day long, so he knows I just need to relax and chill,” added.
The Oklahoma native also reflected on how getting to know each other via phone in early 2020 was beneficial to their relationship now. “We didn’t see each other again [that year] until June 16,” she said. “So it was telephones, Zooms, texting, so we got to really know each other before it was any physical contact.”
