Reba McEntire Reveals Unusual Christmas Tradition With Son Shelby

Like many of us, Reba McEntire has a number of Christmas traditions with her family, though one of the movies she watches each year with her son, Shelby Blackstock, is a bit out of the norm when it comes to holiday fare.

“Shelby and I, we used to always watch Christmas Vacation on Christmas Eve night. Now, we watch Elf and Nacho Libre,” McEntire told The Boot. “If you’ve never seen Nacho Libre, you’re probably thinking, ‘What on Earth?! That’s not a Christmas movie,’ but it’s a lot of fun! We laugh a lot.”

The Oklahoma native also reminisced about Christmases when Shelby was young, sharing that there’s nothing like the feeling of watching a child open their presents.

“He would open gifts, and I would say, ‘Shelby, who’s that from?’ and he would say, ‘Uh, I don’t know.’ He was like, 3 years old,” McEntire recalled. “And I’d say, ‘Shelby, that’s from Santa Claus.’ And he’d say, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot! He’s a really good guy.’”

“So, watching the excitement of a child opening gifts, that’s the best thing about Christmas. Opening presents and watching them. It’s so much fun,” she said.

Another perk of the holiday season for McEntire is more relaxation than normal, which is usually followed by a family trip.

“We hang out at home a lot more,” she explained. “And then, of course, after Christmas, we take off and go on vacation.”

Shelby doesn’t have kids of his own, but he and his girlfriend, Rissa Branch, do have two dogs, making McEntire a grandma to the adorable pups.

McEntire shares Shelby with her ex-husband, Narvel Blackstock, who is also dad to Kelly Clarkson‘s husband, Brandon Blackstock.

After the holiday season, McEntire will have a few months at home in 2020 before hitting the road in March. In April, she will return to Las Vegas for her residency with Brooks & Dunn, Reba, Brooks & Dunn: Together in Vegas, at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace. With the 24 new shows announced for 2020, the residency will officially be the longest-running country-music show in Las Vegas. The residency began in 2015 and will see performances next year in April, June, October and December.

Photo Credit: Getty / Jason Kempin