Reba McEntire and Her New Boyfriend Rex Linn Go Way Back
During an October 2020 episode of her Living & Learning With Reba McEntire podcast, Reba McEntire shared a big piece of news. She's found love with her new boyfriend Rex Linn, the former CSI: Miami star who's also guest-starred in 13 episodes of the Big Bang Theory spin-off, Young Sheldon.
It makes sense that some fans would assumed the pair met on the Young Sheldon set, since McEntire played a guest role of her own on the sitcom in early 2020. But in a new installment of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, McEntire reveals that she and Linn go much further back than that. In fact, they were brought together thanks in part to another country icon.
"I met him in 1991 when we were doing Kenny Rogers' movie The Gambler. We were both on that in 1991. And we've kept in contact with each other over the years," the singer explains. "We both know the same people."
Of course, at that time, McEntire was married to her then-manager, Narvel Blackstock. The couple split in 2015 after more than a decade and a half together, and in 2017, the singer revealed she was dating Anthony "Skeeter" Lasuzzo, a retired oil geologist and amateur wildlife photographer she met through her friend Kix Brooks. McEntire and Skeeter had called it quits as of late 2019.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, McEntire found some spare time on her hands to get to know her now-love interest, after the pair reconnected as friends pre-quarantine.
"So it was just like good friends getting back together having dinner in January, and then we started texting and talking on the telephone, getting to know each other better during the quarantine," McEntire recounts.
These days, the singer's making no bones about how smitten she is with her new boyfriend. During a recent spot on ABC's Good Morning America, McEntire said she was feeling like a "giddy teenager again," adding that her new relationship status was inspiring her to seek out and record equally love-struck new music.
"[Being in love] really inspires me to find love songs, to find happy songs," McEntire adds of how her relationship status is affecting the new music she's recording. "I've always been the queen of waltzes, the queen of sad songs, because I just gravitate to those kinds of songs."
To GMA, McEntire also revealed that she's already cut eight songs for a new project.
Reba + Rex Have Adorable (and Tasty!) Nicknames for Each Other: