Reba McEntire has not been shy about her love for her “Sugar Tot,” a.k.a. her fiancé Rex Linn. The Happy’s Place co-stars have been together for several years now, but they’ve actually known each other for decades.
So, how did their relationship start and how did they meet? Read on to learn more about Reba McEntire and Rex Linn’s love story.
Born in Texas and raised in Oklahoma, Linn has been acting in movies and TV shows since the ’80s, but is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Frank Tripp in CSI: Miami. Linn, 68, also played Kevin Wachtell in Better Call Saul and Principal Tom Peterson in Young Sheldon.
Beyond these roles, Linn has a long list of acting credits including JAG, Cheaper by the Dozen, Django Unchained, and Big Sky.
Linn also currently stars in McEntire’s NBC sitcom Happy’s Place. But this isn’t the first time the couple has worked together. In 2023, Linn starred as a cowboy in The Voice Coach’s TV movie, Reba McEntire’s The Hammer. Decades before, however, the two actors both landed roles in the 1991 western drama, The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.
When did Reba McEntire and Rex Linn start dating?
While McEntire and Linn met over 30 years ago, they didn’t start dating until 2020. The “I’m a Survivor” singer revealed on her podcast, Living & Learning, that she started dating Linn in January 2020 and they were “having a blast” getting to know each other better.
“It’s good to have a person to talk to, laugh with, get into subjects about what’s going on,” she said on her podcast. “It’s just great getting to talk to somebody who I find very interesting, very funny, very smart and is interested in me, too.”
For the first six months of their relationship in 2020, McEntire and Linn really only connected over the phone.
“Because of the pandemic we didn’t get to see each other from January until June 16, but we created an intimacy by texting and talking over the telephone that we wouldn’t have gotten if we’d been together all that time,” McEntire told E! News. “So it was very special and a great way of finding out about each other without ever touching.”
“We’ve been pretty much inseparable since June 16, 2020,” she added.
When did Reba McEntire and Rex Linn go public as a couple?
While they’d already been dating for half a year, McEntire went public with her relationship with Linn on October 4, 2020. “Yeah, yeah, I am [dating],” McEntire revealed on a dating-themed episode of her Live & Learning podcast. “A very, very sweetheart of a guy, Rex Linn.”
“I think it’s very important to be selective about when you want to talk about your private life,” she added. “He’s very special and since we’re having a dating segment for the podcast, I think it’s very appropriate for me to talk about Rex … I put myself in his shoes, and I said, ‘If he was doing this podcast [about dating] and he didn’t mention me, I would be crushed.’”
A few weeks later, Linn posted a photo of himself and McEntire on Instagram, revealing his cute nickname for his other half. “TATER TOT,” he captioned the photo of the couple sitting side-by-side. “Angel on the ground (and on a cooler).”
If that’s not adorable enough, McEntire calls Linn “Sugar Tot” and they call themselves “The Tots.” They have even had their nicknames printed on a mug.
When did Reba McEntire and Rex Linn get engaged?
Linn proposed to McEntire on Christmas Eve in 2024, though the couple didn’t share the news publicly until they attended the Emmy Awards together several months later.
“We got engaged December the 24th, Christmas Eve at Leiper’s Fork [in Tennessee],” McEntire revealed later in an interview with People.
When he got down on one knee, Linn was a true romantic as he proposed with a gorgeous ring full of black diamonds. “He said, ‘I want to cross the finish line with you. Would you marry me?’” McEntire recalled in an interview with USA Today, adding that she was speechless for a brief moment, making Linn in a bit nervous. “He said, ‘I thought I was gonna have to jump in the creek!’” McEntire laughed.
Reba McEntire and Rex Linn both star on NBC’s Happy’s Place
McEntire and Linn have joined forces once again on NBC’s hit sitcom Happy’s Place, which returns for Season 2 on Friday, November 7. Also starring Belissa Escobedo, Melissa Peterman, Tokala Black Elk, and Pablo Castelblanco, Happy’s Place follows Bobbie (McEntire) after she inherits her late father’s tavern and runs it with her newly discovered half-sister, Isabella (Escobedo).
Set in Knoxville, Tennessee, the sitcom is full of heart and humor, courtesy of the tavern staff, including Linn’s character Emmett, the short order cook at Happy’s Place. “He is kind of the patriarch now that [Bobbie’s] daddy has died. ‘Cause he’s been with the tavern the longest,” McEntire told Entertainment Tonight.
Linn also plays McEntire’s love interest on Happy’s Place. In fact, in an interview with NBC Insider, the actor revealed that fans can “expect a lot of fireworks, and maybe less fireworks, and then more fireworks” between Emmett and Bobbie when Season 2 kicks off.
