Reba McEntire Reveals the New Holiday Tradition She’s Starting with Fiancé Rex Linn (Exclusive)
The ‘Happy’s Place’ star tells PEOPLE that she and her partner are starting “our own” traditions for the holiday season

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn are putting their own spin on the holidays.
The Happy’s Place star, 70, tells PEOPLE that while she and her fiancé, 68, don’t currently have any holiday season traditions, they’re workshopping a few just in time for this year.
“For Thanksgiving, we’re gonna go see a double-header at the movies and go out to eat,” McEntire says, confirming its a new one they’re kicking off this November.

Also while speaking with PEOPLE at the Paley Honors Gala on Nov. 10, the country icon detailed another seasonal ritual that she and Linn take part in — just a few months later. “Valentine’s Day, we go to Sonic and have hamburgers and tater tots. And then Thanksgiving, we’re starting our new tradition,” she adds, confirming that she’s “very low key,” and prefers “cozy nights in, no makeup, all that kind of stuff.”
McEntire and Linn, 69, first met in 1991 and started dating in 2020, as she told Today a year later, they have been “pretty much inseparable” ever since.
“I’ve never been loved by a man like Rex Linn. Rex is a very tender-hearted man, and I just love him with all my heart. He’s a good guy. Real bashful though,” McEntire told PEOPLE last month as part of her October cover story.
McEntire also opened up about Linn’s “very romantic” proposal, describing it as a “total surprise” and on “Rex Linn timing.”
“I totally was thrilled to death,” she said of her Happy’s Place costar. “I asked him, ‘Well, when do you want to do this?’ He said, ‘Let’s have fun with the engagement time.’ So we haven’t set a date or anything. We’re just enjoying each other.”
McEntire was previously married to Narvel Blackstock for 26 years before their 2015 divorce, and she added that people should “never give up” when asked to share some advice on heartbreak.
“If you’re in heartbreak right now, just take care of yourself, take care of your heart, and then be open with it,” the singer told PEOPLE. “I was not looking for love at all. So it just happened at the right time, right place. God’s timing is everything.”
Happy’s Place season 2 premieres Friday, Nov. 7, on NBC and will stream the next day on Peacock.