Reba McEntire Places Last in a Chili Cookoff … Judged by Rex Linn [Watch]

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn may be one of country music's cutest couples, but that doesn't mean they cut each other any slack in cook-off contests.

McEntire recently participated in a Hillbilly Chili Cookoff — an event where Linn was one of the judges — and their personal relationship didn't buy her any favors during the judging process.

In fact, McEntire came in dead last! She walked away with a booby prize trophy: A chili pepper being flushed down a toilet.

Ever the good sport, McEntire shared video on social media of her unsuccessful cookoff outing, including a shot of her gracefully accepting last place.

The full video below shows how it all went down, and includes some other fun tidbits, too: Country star Terri Clark was there, for example, and she took second place!

During a recent virtual visit to CBS Mornings, McEntire rehashed her chili cookoff failure and admitted she's got a pretty good idea what went wrong.

"Well, for some reason, I guess I left out all the spices," she admits. "But man, I was dumping chili powder and hatch green chilis in there. And I thought, 'Man, this is gonna do it.' It was from a Texas recipe. I was so excited."

Being Linn's girlfriend didn't save her from her last place spot, but McEntire says her relationship status probably made the blow a little softer when the judges delivered the news.

"Well, Rex was one of the judges, and he came and whispered it in my ear. He said, 'I'm so sorry.' [I said], 'Are you gonna tell me who won?' [He said,] 'Well, it's not you.'

"So he handed me the trophy, and it was a chili pepper in the toilet. And so mine took a dump," McEntire continues.

All jokes aside, McEntire also spoke about her relationship with Linn and why it works so well. The couple have known each other for years — they met in 1991 while filming the Kenny Rogers movie The Gambler Returns — but sparks didn't fly until they reconnected in 2020. In the meantime, McEntire was married to her longtime husband Narvel Blackstock, with whom she shares her son Shelby.

"I asked Rex one time, I said, 'I wonder why we didn't get together earlier.' He said, 'Well, one thing, you were married before,'" McEntire explains. "He's a lot of fun, lot of energy. I've kinda mellowed. He's kinda calmed down. So I think we've met at the right time."

Next up, McEntire is headed to Las Vegas to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. She's also got a new sitcom in the works, which will see her reuniting with some of the team who worked on her beloved TV series, Reba.

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