Reba McEntire Reveals Why She And Rex Linn Kept Their Engagement A Secret For Almost A Year

Reba McEntire and her fiancé Rex Linn have been holding onto a big secret for nearly a year now. In September, the couple finally broke the news that they are engaged, but it turns out the proposal had taken place in December of 2024.

While speaking to People about the exciting chapter of their relationship, McEntire revealed that her other half popped the question on Christmas Eve in Leiper’s Fork. We now know that they decided to keep this detail to themselves until appearing on the Emmys red carpet simply because the timing wasn’t right before then.

“We got engaged then, we were gonna make the announcement when we got back to L.A. in January And the fires happened,” she explained to the outlet. “And it wasn’t appropriate.”

A little over a month after the lovebirds got engaged, tragedy struck California. The fires tore through large parts of Los Angeles and San Diego counties for nearly a month, starting on Jan. 7 and continuing until the last blaze was contained on Jan. 31. McEntire and Linn were among those who had to evacuate their homes at the time.

“Our joy was like oh my gosh, these people are losing their homes — they’re taken out of their homes. We had to evacuate twice, so that wasn’t the time. And the time never presented itself until the Emmys, when it just happened.”

“It wasn’t planned at all,” she added.

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The “Fancy” singer also revealed that Linn had several other opportunities to propose, including their trip to Africa last year, but made sure to wait until the perfect moment.

“He’s very romantic,” Reba McEntire acknowledged. “It was up to him totally I had no idea it was a total surprise…It was Rex Linn timing.”

She noted she was “thrilled to death” to say “yes” to her other half. There is currently no date set for the wedding as they are focusing on having fun with their engagement period and not putting too much pressure to iron out all the details right away.

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McEntire and Linn’s love story began on the set of The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw in 1991. Over the years, their friendship blossomed, but their romantic connection didn’t form until January of 2020 when they reunited on the set of the popular TV show, Young Sheldon. 

Things started to fall into place for the couple until the pandemic hit and they were forced to transition to long distance. They took to facetime dates to get them through and as a result, created an incredibly strong bond that has carried their relationship to this very moment.

Along the way, they have also worked together on a number of projects, including TV shows like Big Sky and Young Sheldon, Happy’s Place and the film, The Hammer.

With years of experience under her belt, Reba McEntire had the perfect advice to offer anyone who might be felling like they will never have their happy ending with their true love.

She encouraged fans to “Never give up. If you’re in heartbreak right now, take care of yourself, take care of your heart and be open with it. I was not looking for love at all. So It just happened right rime right place. God’s timing is everything.”