Reba McEntire Says Boyfriend Rex Linn Is a ‘Great Guy to Be in Love With’

“In 2020, right before the pandemic, we had dinner together and have been together ever since,” McEntire said while filling in on Today with Hoda and Jenna

Reba McEntire has lots of love for her “sugar tot.”

While filling in for Hoda Kotb on Today with Hoda & Jenna on Monday, the Grammy-award-winning country star, 68, discussed her relationship with her boyfriend of three years, actor Rex Linn — whom she shares a cute nickname with.

“He is ‘Sugar Tot.’ I’m ‘Tater Tot,’” McEntire told co-host Jenna Bush-Hager on the show. “We’re ‘the Tots.’”

Tater tots were even brought out for the hosts to eat as they spoke to Linn, 66, who joked from a corner of the stage that he “already had tater tots this morning.”

Reba McEntire and Boyfriend Rex Linn Reveal They Had the ‘Best Valentine’s Dinner Ever’ at Sonic

ABC via Getty

McEntire went on to explain that the pair’s history dates back to 1991, when they starred together in The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw.

“I was one of the actors. He was one of the actors, and he gets a big kick out of it — he says his part was riding into a saloon on a four-year-old Colt and going, ‘Yeehaw!’” McEntire said.

“We stayed in communication all those years, and then in 2020, right before the pandemic, we had dinner together and have been together ever since,” she continued. “I couldn’t get close enough to him.”

Reba McEntire Says She and Boyfriend Rex Linn First Bonded Over Tater Tots: ‘We’ve Been Together Ever Since’

Bush-Hager noted elsewhere on the show that it was “so much fun” to see McEntire “so in love,” to which she responded, “I’m telling you, he’s a great guy to be in love with.”

McEntire, who is set to appear on The Voice‘s Season 23 as mega mentor, recalled the origin of her relationship with Linn on The Jennifer Hudson Show last month.

“I was doing Young Sheldon, the TV show, Rex was doing Young Sheldon — so was Melissa Peterman, who played Barbara Jean on the Reba show,” said the “Fancy” icon. “Rex texted me and said, ‘You gonna be in town?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Well, let’s go to dinner.’”

She said the plans didn’t come to fruition for a couple of weeks, but they eventually went out for a meal together. “We all went to dinner, had a good time, 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,’” said McEntire.

“I said, ‘What do you have?’ They said, ‘Well, we have tater tots.’ I went, [raises hand], and so Rex said, ‘That’s your nickname from here on out — Tater Tot,’” she told host Jennifer Hudson.

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McEntire said on her podcast Living and Learning with Reba McEntire that she got the nickname “sugar tot” from her sister, who jokingly told her to “Tell ‘Sugar Tot’ hi for us,” while she was on the phone with Linn.

Describing her relationship with Linn in October 2020, she said: “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,” she added.