Reba McEntire and Boyfriend Rex Linn Are Engaged After 5 Years of Dating

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn are engaged after five years of dating.

The couple sparked engagement rumors while attending the 2025 Emmys on Sunday, September 14, when a reporter referred to them as fiancés. People subsequently confirmed that McEntire, 70, and Linn, 68, are indeed set to wed.

McEntire was joined at the Emmys by Little Big Town members Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman for a performance of the Golden Girls theme song, “Thank You For Being a Friend,” in honor of the sitcom’s 40th anniversary.

McEntire and Linn have been dating since 2020. In her 2023 book, Not That Fancy, she recalled their immediate connection after meeting in 1991 while filming The Gambler Returns.

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“We instantly bonded over living in Oklahoma and our love for horses and acting,” she wrote. “He made me laugh, and we became good buddies.”

The pair stayed in touch over the years, but their relationship did not turn romantic until they crossed paths again on the set of Young Sheldon.

“We talked for hours every day,” she recounted, noting that they could not see each other in person at the time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “All we could do was talk! But that wasn’t a bad thing. It gave us a chance to get to know each other better. From the very first call, I was just my honest self with him — never any pretense or performance. We were just ‘us,’ and it worked.”

McEntire then shared the secret to her successful relationship with Linn.

“He’s the first person I talk to when I get up each morning and the last person I talk to before I go to sleep each night,” she said before her and Linn joined NBC’s Happy’s Place as love interests. “I’m having fun being in love again. Romantic relationships should be fun — I don’t care how old you are. Love should bring you joy and make you feel good, and I’m never going to settle for anything less.”

McEntire was previously married to Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987 and Narvel Blackstock from 1989 to 2015. In March, she described her past relationship with Blackstock, 69, as “a situation that was always business.”

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“I think it works for some people. They can be married or have a relationship and work together. Our work was all the time,” she explained on The Drew Barrymore Show. “Our marriage was 26 years. We started out working together in the band. He was part of the band, and then became my manager, later on then my husband, but it was a situation that was always business — whether we were getting ready in the morning, pillow talk, whatever, but it was business.”

As for her unique bond with Linn, McEntire said she was drawn to him “like a magnet” when they finally got together.

“We had talked and communicated throughout the years, had a mutual friend and we stayed in contact,” she said. “But for some reason, that night was just so special.”