Watch: Reba McEntire Clarifies Rex Linn Relationship Status After "Husband" CommentReba McEntire's romantic roots aren't officially planted yet. The "I'm A Survivor" singer clarified the status of her relationship with fiancée Rex Linn after Today cohost Savannah Guthrie referred to Reba's Happy's Place costar as her "husband." "Now, wait a minute. Before everybody has a conniption fit at home, we're just engaged," Reba, 70, confirmed during her Dec. 1 appearance on the morning show, laughing off the mistake. "My family will go, 'Wait, you didn't tell us?!" Savannah, 53, apologized for the slip up before asking how the couple-who got engaged in September after five years of dating-have grown accustomed to working together on their NBC series. After all, Reba and Rex's characters are also in a relationship in the sitcom.photosReba McEntire Through the Years"It's a blast," The Voice judge explained of their professional connection. "He is a workaholic and he loves to rehearse. Me? Not so much on the rehearsal part, so he really makes sure that I know my lines and that I'm ready to go when we have tape day. We're so grateful and thankful that we get to go to work together, and then go home together." However, their work dynamic didn't just begin on the set of the show. In fact, Reba and Rex, 69, were first costars in Kenny Rodgers' 1991 western film, The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. The duo then reunited on Young Sheldon in 2020, months before they hard launched their romance that summer. And with them working on their bond over the years, Rex noted that they've embraced being there for each other-both personally and professionally. "We love being around one another," he told E! News in November. "Our relationship in real life has enhanced our scenes where we're together because we're a lot more comfortable. It makes it a lot better for us."Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty ImagesAs for the status of their future wedding? The Rush Hour actor noted that they "haven't set a date" since they want to "enjoy our engagement time together." But once their magnetic ceremony comes, Reba-who shares son Shelby, 35, and five stepchildren with ex-husband Narvel Blackstock-isn't interested in walking down a traditional aisle. "It'll be a lot of fun," Reba explained in the same interview. "It's gonna be a nontraditional wedding because that's Rex and me. We like comfort, we love friends, we love food." Keep reading for a closer look into Reba and Rex's romance...
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images1991Reba McEntire first met her special somebody Rex Linn on the set of Kenny Rogers' 1991 movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, in which she played lead Burgundy Jones and he made a cameo."He gets a big kick out of it," the country music star recalled on Today in April 2023. "He says his part was riding into a saloon on a 4-year-old colt and going, 'Yeehaw!' and riding out."Over the years, the two stayed in contact as friends. However, Reba was already married to Narvel Blackstock-becoming stepmom to his kids Shawna, Chassidy and Brandon Blackstock after tying the knot in 1989 and welcoming son Shelby Blackstock the following year-and it would be decades before she and Rex struck up a romance.
Instagram / Rex LinnJanuary 2020Four years after Reba and Narvel divorced near the end of 2015, she crossed paths with Rex again. This time, it was on Young Sheldon, where she made a guest appearance and he had a recurring role."Rex texted me and said, 'You going to be in town?'" Reba recalled on The Jennifer Hudson Show in July 2025. "I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Well, let's go to dinner.'"After enjoying a meal with friends, the actress continued, they headed to a wine bar, where Reba ordered some tater tots and Rex determined, "That's your nickname from here on out."Luckily for fans of the Tots (she's "Tater Tot" and he's "Sugar Tot"), there's a photo from that special night."Had a fantastic dinner with this Oklahoma girl," Rex wrote on Instagram in January 2020. "Tater Tots and Ketchup included."Instagram / Reba McEntireJanuary 2020 - June 2020With their romance beginning at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Reba and Rex were forced to date long-distance. However, this enabled them to connect on a deeper level."Because of the pandemic, we didn't get to see each other from January to June 16, but we created an intimacy by texting and talking over the telephone that we wouldn't have gotten if we had been together all that time," the singer explained to E! News in April 2024. "So it was very special, and it was a great way of finding out about each other without ever touching. We've been pretty much inseparable since June 16 of 2020. It was a wonderful way to get to know each other better."Instagram / Reba McEntireOctober 2020Reba and Rex went public with their relationship that fall."It's good to have a person to talk to, laugh with, get into subjects about what's going on, discussions about our past, our fami