Reba McEntire said her boyfriend, actor Rex Linn, is “probably the sane one in the group” on Happy’s Place.

McEntire appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers on Tuesday night (May 13). The legendary country star spoke about hosting the 60th ACM Awards last week (for her record-setting 18th time), delivering the world premiere performance of “Trailblazer” with Miranda Lambert and Lainey Wilson, returning to The Voice in the upcoming season, and reminiscing on her role in the 1990 horror-comedy, Tremors.

Host Seth Meyers also asked McEntire about working with her boyfriend on Happy’s Place. The sitcom premiered in October 2024, and McEntire recently confirmed it has been renewed for a second season. The show follows McEntire’s character, Bobbie, “a tough but lovable woman who inherits her late father’s Tennessee tavern - only to discover that her new co-owner is also the half-sister she never knew she had,” per NBC. “They couldn’t be more different, but they’ll navigate this new life together... because at Happy’s Place, everyone is family.” The cast also includes Belissa Escobedo, Pablo Castelblanco, Tokala Black Elk and Melissa Peterman, who reunites with McEntire after working together on Reba. The beloved early 2000s show also stars Christopher Rich, Steve Howey, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Scarlett Pomers and Mitch Holleman.

McEntire told Meyers that Linn plays Emmett on Happy’s Place, and he’s “probably the sane one in the group. On the Reba show, I was the voice of reason, and now he is. So, I get to be in the whirlwind of chaotic stuff. I love it. I love it [giving herself permission to be ‘the crazy one’ this time].” She added that Linn often takes a more serious approach to acting, calling him “a stickler on rehearsals.” But “he’s a good guy. I like him a lot.”

McEntire and Linn met for the first time on the set of Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw in 1991. They reconnected while working on Young Sheldon in early 2020. McEntire said during a previous appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show that she and Linn made dinner plans, and “went down the street to a wine bar and they said, ‘well, I understand you’ve already had dinner, but we do have some good appetizers…we have tater tots.’” Since then, Linn decided McEntire’s nickname would be “tater tot,” and McEntire named him “sugar tot” in return. They’ve “been together ever since.”

During a recent interview with iHeartCountry, McEntire said she considers the No. 1 secret to a successful sitcom to be “the writing. If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage.” She said the showrunner and head writer tell stories with “a great voice of comedy and heart. …You gotta laugh, but you gotta cry. You’ve got to hit all of those emotions.

“I’ve got to listen to the arc of the second season, and it’s gonna be good,” McEntire teased later in the interview. “And all of the characters – and I do call us ‘characters,’ the actors, we are characters in our own right. We’re so diversified that we bring to the table something in real life that I think comes through on the screen. …We love each other. We respect each other’s opinion on things, their individual lifestyle, their background, their heritage. It’s a fun family.”

Chris O'Gorman

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