Reba McEntire is ready to say ‘I do!’
On Sunday, the country legend, 70, quietly confirmed she is engaged to actor Rex Linn, 68, while walking the red carpet at the 2025 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.
Rather than make a grand announcement, the couple, who have been dating since 2020, made the revelation after an E! News reporter referred to them as ‘fiancés’ during an interview.
According to People, the duo, who star alongside each other on NBC’s Happy’s Place, smiled knowingly and nodded, delighting fans who have been rooting for the pair’s romance for years.
While their relationship only turned romantic five years ago, McEntire and Linn first met back in the 1990s on the set of The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.
At the time, their friendship didn’t blossom into anything more, but fate brought them back together decades later.
Reba McEntire and Rex Linn are engaged after five years of dating; seen at the 2025 Emmy Awards
It was in 2020, during one of the hardest moments of McEntire’s life, that Linn stepped in with a gesture of kindness that would change everything.
‘In 2020, when Mama got sick, he called me,’ the singer recalled on Today in October 2021.
The pair had recently crossed paths again while both were guest starring on Young Sheldon.
‘Starting in March of 2020, we just kept talking and visiting and finally got together, see each other in June,’ she explained. ‘And we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.’
Earlier this year, the star gushed to Fox News that they ‘get along in every aspect’ and that he is a ‘better cook’ than her.
‘We love Longhorns, we love the cowboy way of life, cowgirl way of life, and we both got into the entertainment industry,’ she raved. ‘He’s an actor. I’m a singer. I love to act. Now we act together.’
Meanwhile, he told WBIR Channel 10 that they are ‘best friends’ and ‘wanna cross the finish line with each other in a relationship.’
The happy news comes just one month after she broke her silence on her former stepson Brandon Blackstock’s death.
On Sunday, the country legend, 70, quietly confirmed she is engaged to actor Rex Linn, 68, while walking the red carpet at the 2025 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles
While their relationship only turned romantic five years ago, McEntire and Linn first met back in the 1990s on the set of The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw
In August, the country superstar paid tribute to her former stepson with a comment underneath an Instagram post shared by her son Shelby Blackstock.
‘Very well said Shelby. Yes we will miss him so much,’ the singer, 70, wrote alongside various red heart and broken heart emojis.
McEntire was previously married to Brandon and Shelby’s father, film producer Narvel Blackstock, 68, from 1989 to 2015.
Brandon — who shared two young children with Kelly Clarkson and was married to the singer for nearly seven years before their split in 2020 — died of melanoma cancer at the age of 48 on August 7.
Shelby, 35, posted a heartbreaking tribute to his late brother the day after Brandon’s death.
Earlier this year, the star gushed to Fox News that they ‘get along in every aspect’ and that he is a ‘better cook’ than her (seen in February 2024)
‘We love Longhorns, we love the cowboy way of life, cowgirl way of life, and we both got into the entertainment industry,’ she raved. ‘He’s an actor. I’m a singer. I love to act. Now we act together’
‘Words cannot begin to capture the tremendous loss our family has endured. Yesterday, we lost a brother, a father, a grandfather, and a son,’ he wrote in his caption alongside throwback photos with his half brother.
‘Brandon Blackstock was an irreplaceable part of our family—funny, bright, and full of life—and he will be deeply missed.’
In his caption, Shelby said that his older brother ‘taught me so much,’ adding that he will ‘hold onto forever’ the lessons as well as ‘countless cherished memories’ of the time they spent together.
He concluded his heartfelt post to his late brother: ‘We will always miss you, Brandon, and we will never stop loving, remembering and celebrating you.’
Meanwhile, he told WBIR Channel 10 that they are ‘best friends’ and ‘wanna cross the finish line with each other in a relationship’
The pair currently star alongside each other on NBC’s Happy’s Place; seen last year
Previously, McEntire gushed about Brandon and said that she considered her former stepson as her own.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2021, she said about the music manager: ‘Brandon’s been my son forever it seems. Although he’s my stepson, I still love him like he’s my total — my blood…’
Earlier this year, just five months before his death, Brandon and his family reunited with McEntire at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, where the music legend was one of three headliners.
‘When she did her rodeo concert, which was a big deal for her, she flew out the entire family and they made a family vacation out of it. They all spent a lot of time together,’ a source told Us Weekly.
The insider also said: ‘Reba has spent more time with the Blackstock crew in the past year than in years prior.’
The happy news comes just one month after she broke her silence on former stepson Brandon Blackstock’s death; pictured March 2025
Brandon was married to the Clarkson from 2013 to 2022; during their marriage, they welcomed two children together, daughter River Rose, 11, and son Remy, nine; pictured in February 2013
In one photo shared by McEntire’s son Shelby, the singer posed alongside her boyfriend Rex Linn alongside Brandon and his eldest daughter Savannah.
Brandon’s sisters Chassidy and Shawna were also in attendance alongside Shelby and his wife Marissa.
‘Narvel and his wife, Laura, and Reba’s boyfriend, Rex, are at a place where they can be together and talk, which is a big step,’ the insider told the outlet about the family’s relationship after many ‘contentious’ years.
‘Reba has a heart of gold, and she was there for Brandon and his kids. They are family at the end of the day.’
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