Reba McEntire Says Participating in ‘I’m a Survivor’ TikTok Trend Was ‘Hysterical’

Social media queen Reba McEntire recently hopped on a TikTok trend set to her own song “I’m a Survivor,” posting a video of herself attempting to feed two of her donkeys, to no avail. In a new interview with Variety, McEntire was asked about participating in the trend, sharing that the suggestion came from one of her team members.

“Somebody started it, just doing things at home and looking at the camera and singing; ‘I’m a survivor,’” she said, aptly summing up the trend. “It just started out so simple and it’s really caught on. We were watching it on TikTok, and it started growing and getting bigger and getting more attention. And Justin McIntosh, who works on all our projects, said, ‘What would really be fun is if you did a TikTok singing ‘I’m a Survivor.’”

McEntire’s video, which has been viewed over 20 million times, features her wearily carrying two buckets of food over to a fence behind which two donkeys are standing, though they turn away just as she arrives. After being rebuffed, she turns to the camera and sings, “I’m a survivor” before wiping her neck with a cloth and shaking her head. “When it’s time to feed your donkeys and they’re not the least bit impressed #ImASurvivor #Donkeys #FarmLife #Reba #CountryGirl,” her caption read.

“So I was out on the farm, and Rex Linn, my boyfriend, had the idea of getting the donkeys involved — Pancho and Lefty,” the singer recalled of filming the clip. “He held the camera up for me to carry my two buckets, and when I set the buckets down and the handles clicked, it kind of scared the donkeys, so they turned their butts to me. And I looked at the camera, and I said, ‘I’m a survivor’ — you know, like ‘what I have to put up with.’ And we got over 18 million clicks of people watching this video. So that was hysterical and kind of gave ‘I’m a Survivor’ a resurgence.”

“I’m a Survivor” appears on McEntire’s 2001 album Greatest Hits Volume III: I’m a Survivor and was also used as the theme song for her sitcom, Reba, which ran from 2001-2007 on The WB and The CW.