How Reba McEntire Has Her Boyfriend Rex Linn Saved in Her Phone Is So Specific

The Happy’s Place star might sweetly call her boyfriend “Sugar Tot,” but that’s not what you’ll find him in her phone.

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn have a modern day love story that started on the phone. While the “The Tots” were initially a long-distance couple who relied on texting and frequent calls, they aren’t far from each other today, working closely together on NBC’s new sitcom Happy’s Place. Still, it seems The Voice Coach is nostalgic for the early days of their relationship.

McEntire and Linn first met over 30 years ago on the set of The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw, and reconnected in January 2020 when McEntire was a guest star on Young Sheldon. But due to the pandemic, McEntire told E! News that they couldn’t see each other in person for several months when they first started dating and built a special bond over the phone.

“We created an intimacy by texting and talking over the telephone that we wouldn’t have gotten if we’d been together all that time,” she said. “So it was very special and a great way of finding out about each other without ever touching.”

Reba McEntire’s phone contact name for boyfriend Rex Linn

McEntire told TODAY in 2023 that they called and texted each other every day, and also revealed the very specific name she has Rex saved under in her phone: “Rex Linn, long-distance boyfriend.”

“I haven’t changed it since 2020,” McEntire revealed.

Rex Linn and Reba McEntire attend the Super Bowl LVIII Pregame at Allegiant Stadium on February 11, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Roc Nation

That’s right, even though McEntire sweetly calls Linn her “Sugar Tot” and he calls her “Tater Tot,” his contact name in her phone remains unchanged.

Since McEntire and Linn became an item in 2020, they’ve certainly learned a lot about each other. For example, Linn revealed to NBC Insider that McEntire will never run out of her favorite condiment. “You won’t believe it. She puts ketchup on everything. It just drives me nuts. Everything,” he said. “She’ll put ketchup on ice cream. There are 17 bottles of ketchup in that refrigerator.”

Funnily enough, McEntire gushed about her love of ketchup on The Drew Barrymore Show in May 2024. “I love ketchup on everything,” she said before eating a tater tot. Just like McEntire’s contact names in her phone, some things never change.

Rex Linn and Reba McEntire attend a reception for NBCUniversal’s Summer Press Tour for “Happy’s Place” in Pasadena, Calif. on July 14, 2024. Photo: Todd Williamson/NBCUniversal

McEntire, of course, also gushes about Linn often. Speaking to Us Weekly in October 2024, the “I’m a Survivor” singer said Linn is the “love of my life.”

“I think we have made each other better,” she added. “Rex brings out the little girl in me and I have fun. I’m dorky, I’m goofy. He is too. We love to laugh, and we love each other.”