Music icon Reba McEntire and actor Rex Linn are engaged after five years of dating, according to multiple reports.
The development was first suggested publicly on Sept. 14 at the 2025 Emmy Awards in Los Angeles, where Live From E! correspondent Zuri Hall introduced Linn as McEntire's fiancé during a red-carpet interview. Neither McEntire nor Linn corrected the reference. McEntire, 69, responded instead by saying, "We're having a blast on 'Happy's Place' and so glad to be here tonight."
People later confirmed the engagement through a source, who said, "It happened a few months ago, and they are very happy."
McEntire and Linn, 67, first met in the 1990s but reconnected while both appeared on "Young Sheldon" in 2020. McEntire has said their relationship grew during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"In 2020, when Mama got sick, he called me," she recalled in a 2021 appearance on Today. "Starting in March of 2020, we just kept talking and visiting and finally got together, see each other in June. And we've been pretty much inseparable ever since."
The pair currently co-star on NBC's sitcom "Happy's Place." Linn has called the project "a dream come true" and described their relationship as built on friendship.
"We are best friends. We wanna cross the finish line with each other in a relationship," he told WBIR Channel 10.
In past interviews, both have spoken openly about their connection. Linn told People that he occasionally shows affection on set.
"Every once in a while, I'll sneak by for a quick kiss, just a peck on the cheek and keep on moving. It's fun," he said.
McEntire, for her part, described their relationship in 2024 as joyful.
"Every day is Valentine's Day for us," she told People. "We're just silly, goofy people in our 60s that love life [and] love each other. We have fun. We're dorky, goofy, and we have similar interests in just about everything, so it's just fun all the time."
At the Emmy Awards, McEntire also performed a tribute marking the 40th anniversary of "The Golden Girls." She praised the sitcom as timeless, saying, "It's a show that you can watch forever."
Linn added jokingly, "If you're not a fan of 'The Golden Girls,' it would be like not liking puppies."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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