Love at Second Sight: Reba McEntire Describes Touching Way She Was Drawn To Rex Linn After Reconnecting

Reba McEntire admitted that she didn’t feel an instant attraction to her boyfriend, Rex Linn, the first time she laid eyes on him. But when they reconnected decades later, she was drawn to him like a “magnet.” 

The Grammy-winning songstress has been with her beau for more than three years. The two initially met in 1991, when they were filming The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. At that time, she was married to her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock, so the relationship was strictly platonic. 

The two “kept in contact over the years” because they had a mutual friend, but they had another in-person run-in when Reba guest starred on Young Sheldon just before COVID-19 hit. After filming that day, they met up for a group dinner, and sparks flew. 

“Melissa [Peterman] says that that was our first date, because, I mean, I was like a magnet to Rex,” Reba said during a visit on The Drew Barrymore Show. I just couldn’t get close enough to him,” she told Barrymore. “I don’t know why. We had talked and communicated throughout the years—had a mutual friend, Ed Gaylord, and we stayed in contact. But for some reason, that night was just so special.”

The night got even more special when Rex gave his sweetheart a new nickname—Tater Tot. The idea came after the duo went out for some post-dinner drinks and Reba ordered some for a snack. 

Reba noted that her sister came up with an equally adorable nickname for Rex a few months later. 

“Later on, during the pandemic, I was in Oklahoma with my sister, Susie, and she said, ‘You know, he gave you ‘Tater Tot.’ Let’s give him ‘Sugar Tot.'” So we’re “The Tots,” Reba gushed. 

“Sugar and Tater,” she continued. “How about that? Is that not cute? We’re grown people!” 

Reba McEntire went on to admit that Rex Linn was the first man she ever felt magnetized to, and it was “the greatest thing ever.”

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