Love is going strong for Reba McEntire. The country music icon has been in a romantic relationship with actor Rex Linn since early 2020, and it seems the lovebirds are still head over heels for each other.
While appearing on Live With Kelly and Ryan, where she couldn’t help but smile from ear to ear, McEntire recounted how she and Linn began dating. She also revealed the couple had known each other since 1991 but didn’t begin seeing each other romantically until the stars aligned for them, bringing them together on the set of the popular sitcom Young Sheldon.
“Right before the pandemic, January of 2020, I had gone out to LA to shoot Young Sheldon,” McEntire recalled. “Well, a good friend of mine that I’d met in ‘91, on The Gambler movie with Kenny Rogers, Rex Linn, he was also doing Young Sheldon. So he texted me and said, ‘Hey. You’re coming out to LA. Let’s have dinner.’ I said, ‘Okay.’”
McEntire and Linn planned to get a meal at a place called Mistral, and the two of them were to be joined by other people, including her tour manager Marne J. McLyman, her Reba co-star, good friend Melissa Peterman, and the showrunner of Young Sheldon Steven Molaro. But, McEntire had other plans. It turns out she wanted to take advantage of one on one time with Linn. So she made a break for it when she arrived at Mistral.
“Marne drops me off. She stops at the valet. I hop out. I leave her, and I run in. I see Rex, and I hug him. I say, ‘Oh! It’s been so long since we’ve seen each other!” McEntire shared to which co-host Kelly Ripa inquired, “So you two had a moment together?”
“Mhmm, and I saddled up to him,” McEntire quipped, adding that the crew made their way from Mistral to a wine bar, where the two of them got to know each other even more. So much so that they learned each other’s quirks and favorite snacks.
“The lady [working] said, ‘I know you guys have already had dinner. But, we do have appetizers and that sort of thing. I said, ‘What do you have?’ She said, ‘Tater Tots.’”
McEntire went on to say that she raised her hand at the word “tater tot” to let the waiter know she wanted to order them, and she ended up getting more than just the food. She received a nickname too.
“I love tater tots, and that’s my nickname, tater tot,” McEntire revealed. “Rex gave it to me that night. We’re the tots, sugar, and tater.”
McEntire later learned her boyfriend is a “foodie” too, telling Ripa and Ryan Seacrest Linn loves ice cream, steaks, beef from South Texas, lobster, pie, and more.
And since earning her nickname, McEntire and Linn’s relationship has continued to blossom.
“We had a tour and then we went into vacation mode, going to Montana and Wyoming. Then we went up to Vancouver and shot a movie for Lifetime. Then we went right into Albuquerque, New Mexico to film Big Sky,” McEntire gushed, using the words “we” to let viewers know Linn was in tow for those moments.
Both McEntire and Linn also star together in the upcoming Lifetime film, The Hammer and Big Sky.
And, McEntire has been keeping busy. Along with releasing an upcoming Christmas album titled, Reba: The Ultimate Christmas Collection, the award-winning artist will soon launch the fall leg of her Reba: Live in Concert Tour. The trek, which features support from Terri Clark, begins on Oct. 13 in Lafayette, Louisiana.
