Reba McEntire celebrated fiancé Rex Linn’s 70th birthday on November 13 with an Instagram tribute to the actor she calls the love of her life.
The country singer, 71, shared two photographs of the couple. Both currently star on NBC’s Happy’s Place, playing tavern owner Bobbie and cook Emmett.
They first met while making Kenny Rogers’ 1991 television movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. Mutual friends helped them stay in touch for nearly three decades.
Linn proposed during a Christmas Eve walk near a creek on their Tennessee property in 2024. He had considered asking during an African safari months earlier, but the opportunity never came. They publicly confirmed their engagement at the September 2025 Emmy Awards.
Blue Coffee Mugs and Birthday Wishes
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In one photograph, McEntire and Linn smiled at each other over matching blue coffee mugs. The other showed them beside a pumpkin display at Cheekwood Estate & Gardens in Nashville.
“Here’s to many more birthday coffee camps together!” McEntire wrote in the post, covered by PEOPLE. She added, “You’ll always be my Sugar Tot!”
McEntire also recommended Cheekwood for a family outing. Her Happy’s Place costar Melissa Peterman and actress Justina Machado joined the birthday wishes in the comments, with Machado praising the pair.
How Reba and Rex Became Tater Tot and Sugar Tot
McEntire and Linn reconnected while working on Young Sheldon in early 2020. Their group went to a wine bar after dinner, where a waitress offered appetizers.
McEntire had told The Drew Barrymore Show in 2024 that Peterman, another member of the dinner group, considered the outing their first date. McEntire remembered feeling drawn to Linn throughout the evening.
During the couple’s December 8, 2025 appearance on the show, Linn recalled that McEntire requested two orders of tater tots. He decided that “Tater Tot” would be her nickname, according to Parade.
Her sister Susie later suggested “Sugar Tot” for Linn after hearing what he called McEntire. The couple told Barrymore that their holiday cards come signed “From The Tots.”
Coffee Camp Began While They Were Apart
After McEntire’s mother, Jacqueline McEntire, died in March 2020, Linn stayed in regular contact while the singer was with her family in Oklahoma. Their morning conversations gave them time to get to know each other while the pandemic kept them apart.
The support echoed a kindness McEntire had shown him years earlier. On her Living & Learning podcast, Linn recalled that she called him after his mother died in 1998. They spoke for about 25 minutes, and he said he never forgot it.
Looking back during that October 2021 episode, McEntire said they had maintained their daily Coffee Camp calls since March 16, 2020, according to Country Now. Linn said the time difference sometimes meant starting at 3 a.m. in California when McEntire was in Tennessee, but he never wanted to miss a call.
Work Has Shaped Their Wedding Plans
At the August 10, 2026, NBC Backlot Pass event, McEntire told E! News, “We’re just waiting until we have an open spot.” Linn had said earlier that year that they intended to marry at their Tennessee ranch.
In a separate May 12, 2026, interview with Extra, McEntire described a low-key celebration with friends and family. She suggested her granddogs, Watson and Belle, might serve as ring bearers and said she wanted their animals included. The property is also home to longhorns, donkeys, horses and cats.
McEntire also joked to Extra that they could spend 30 years engaged if work kept intervening, adding that they would be fine with that.
