Reba McEntire ‘Had a Blast’ With Boyfriend Rex Linn at the CMA Awards

Reba McEntire co-hosted the CMA Awards last week along with Darius Rucker, and she had a special guest in the audience — her boyfriend, actor Rex Linn, who arrived at the show with the singer wearing a coordinating outfit and face shield. Speaking to media after the awards, McEntire was asked about attending the show with Linn, and she shared that the two had “a blast” together at what was Linn’s first CMA Awards ceremony.

“I’m pretty sure it’s his first CMA Awards,” she told PopCulture.com and other outlets. “His name is Rex Linn and we’ve had a blast tonight. He had fun too… so it was fun.” After the show, the 65-year-old shared an Instagram post giving fans a look at her and Linn’s post-CMA Awards celebrations, sharing a snap of the duo on the red carpet and another of the pair holding coffee mugs. “From red carpet to coffee camp! Sugar and Tater Tot! #coffeecamp @rexlinn13 #werethetots,” McEntire wrote, referencing the duo’s nicknames for each other, Sugar Tot (Linn) and Tater Tot (McEntire).

McEntire first confirmed her relationship with Linn during an October episode of her podcast, Living & Learning With Reba McEntire. “Yeah, yeah, I am [dating],” she said. “A very, very sweetheart of a guy, Rex Linn. And we’ve been talking during the pandemic.”

“We had dinner with Rex, was it in January?” she recalled. “And then February on it was the COVID pandemic and we were talking, texting, FaceTime. And that’s a really good way to get to know people… It’s good to have a person to talk to, laugh with, get into subjects about what’s going on. Discussions about our past, our family, funny stories, him being an actor, me being an actress. And he’s very into my music. I’m very into his career. It’s just great getting to talk to somebody who I find very interesting, very funny, very smart, and is interested in me, too.”

Since then, the Oklahoma native has shared a number of photos with Linn on social media, including a snap letting fans in on the couple’s new hobby. “The Tots, Sugar and Tater, have taken up farming,” McEntire captioned a recent snap of herself standing outside next to Linn, who was holding a rooster. “Meet Mr. Pecker. @rexlinn13 @martiefletcher #mrpecker #werethetots.”