Reba McEntire, 70, and Rex Linn, 68, celebrate engagement at the Emmys

15 September 2025, 13:09

Congratulations are in order for the ‘How Was I to Know’ singer and her Happy’s Place co-star.

Reba McEntire and her partner of five years, Rex Linn, are ready to tie the knot.

The happy couple – who began dating in 2020 after decades of friendship – confirmed their engagement while walking the Emmys red carpet last night.

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Speaking with E! News reporter Zuri Hall, the Happy’s Place stars beamed as Rex was introduced as Reba’s fiancé during their pre-show interview.

The pair’s engagement was later confirmed by People magazine, with a source adding the couple’s engagement “happened a few months ago and they are very happy".

Reba, 70, and Rex, 68, first met while filming the 1991 made-for-television Kenny Rogers film The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.

The two then reconnected while filming Young Sheldon, leading to Rex reaching out to Reba when her mother died in March 2020.

As she told Today in 2021: “When Mama got sick, he called me... we just kept talking and visiting and finally got together, [to] see each other in June.

“And we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since,” she explained.

Giving Family Their Best Shot | Happy's Place Trailer | NBC

“It was just like a magnet,” Reba added while speaking with E! News in 2024.

After meeting up while filming Young Sheldon: “We didn't get to see each other from January ‘til June 16 [2020], but we created an intimacy by texting and talking over the telephone that we wouldn't have gotten if we'd have been together all of that time.”

The pair are currently both starring in the American sitcom Happy’s Place, in which Reba plays lead character Bobbie, who inherits her father Happy’s eponymous bar while at the same time discovering she has a half-sister. Rex plays the establishment’s cook, Emmett.

The pair were repping the TV show at the Emmys, ahead of its second season beginning to air this November.

But the glitzy celebration of all things TV couldn’t simply invite a star like Reba and not also invite her to sing!

Never fear, however, as the ‘I’m A Survivor’ artist performed a musical tribute to the beloved sitcom The Golden Girls at the event, to celebrate its 40th anniversary last night (September 14).