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LOS ANGELES — Rule #1 about Reba McEntire's love life: Don't believe everything you see on TV.
As Season 2 of NBC's comedy "Happy's Place" kicks off on Nov. 7 (8 ET/PT), McEntire's tavern co-owner Bobbie and short-order cook Emmett, played by Rex Linn, are still just a prospective couple.
In reality, McEntire, 70, and Linn, 68, are fully loved-up and engaged. The proof is right in the rose gold engagement ring that McEntire wears while sitting at Bobbie's kitchen table on the "Happy's Place" Universal City, Calif., set.
Linn picked out the ring surrounded by black diamonds and presented it on bended knee on Christmas Eve 2024.
"It sparkles all the time, and it doesn't matter that I don't think I've ever cleaned it," McEntire tells USA TODAY. "I'm having a blast. I feel like a teenager again," she proclaims of her life. "It's just a wonderful time."
Seven months after her 70th birthday in March, McEntire is firing on all cylinders. "The Voice" star, one win under her belt after four seasons, is the senior coach on Season 28 of NBC's reality singing competition, alongside Michael Bublé, Niall Horan and Snoop Dogg. McEntire and Linn are finishing their second season of "Happy's Place," just a golf cart ride away from "The Voice" on the famed Universal Studios lot.
The engagement with Linn, which the duo announced from the Emmy Awards red carpet back in September, is the cherry on top.
"I'm 70 years old, 50 years in the business, and I'm happier now than I've ever been in my life," says McEntire. "God saved the best for last."
The inseparable couple commutes together from their Los Angeles home and rehearses "Happy's Place" together deep into the night.
"We're great rehearsal partners. We'll go to bed with our scripts and wake with them," says McEntire. "But many mornings we sit out back and watch the hummingbirds while having coffee."
The duo has a can't-miss daily morning ritual, Coffee Camp, no matter where they are – in person or over Zoom call.
"In the morning, when I'm shuffling down the hall to get Coffee Camp, Rex will say, 'You're the prettiest woman in the world,'" McEntire says. "And I'll say, 'OK, put your glasses back on.'"
They first met as friendly co-stars while shooting the 1991 TV movie "The Gambler Returns," and reconnected 30 years later when McEntire booked a guest spot on "Young Sheldon," where Linn played Principal Petersen. After a reunion dinner, they've been joined at the hip ever since.
When "Happy's Place" started, Bobbie and Emmett were not necessarily supposed to cook up romance in the TV tavern working alongside co-owner Isabella (Belissa Escobeda) and bartender Gabby ("Reba" star Melissa Peterman).
"But that's what the fans are expecting," says McEntire. "'That's real life, let's see it on the show.'"
Life is giddily ahead of TV romance. Still, McEntire promises "heated moments," and not just from Emmett's grill. "But we're going to tease y'all with a little love interest," she says, "Hijinks are to follow."
Rex Linn's proposal: 'I want to cross the finish line with you'
The December proposal already featured enough amorous escapades for a future season. Linn secretly picked out the ring at an Austin jeweler and carried it in his pocket throughout a June 2024 African safari.
"But the opportunity never presented itself," says McEntire. "He brought (the ring) back home."
On Dec. 23, Linn scouted the perfect location near a favorite creek on their 130-acre ranch, 40 miles outside Nashville. During a Christmas Eve walk, he dropped to a knee, surprising McEntire.
"I said, 'What are you doing?' and he said, 'Would you marry me? I want to cross the finish line with you,' " says McEntire, who hugged Linn's head but didn't answer immediately. "He said, 'You're not saying anything!' And I finally said, 'Well, yes! YES!' He thought he was going to have to jump into the creek."
Linn confirms later that McEntire's post-proposal pause was "about 21 seconds. And even a five-second pause feels like an hour."
"I thought, if she doesn't say 'yes,' I'll just disappear into that creek," Linn says. "But then she said 'yes' three times."
The couple kept mum on the celebratory news due to the devastating Los Angeles fires that erupted in January. They have not made concrete wedding plans, partly because McEntire's calendar is jammed.
"She's got 13 free days in 2026," says Linn. "We're just enjoying the engagement, right now. When we set a date, we'll set a date."
McEntire, who divorced her second husband Narvel Blackstock in 2015, is "happy and content." And the romance, real and on TV, is inspiring.
"I'm hearing from people I haven't heard from in years, going, 'Gosh, you've given me hope. Maybe there is someone out there for me,' " says McEntire. "Everybody wants to see people in love and happy."
McEntire on AI images: 'Source your information'
Rule #2 about McEntire's love life: Don't believe the AI viral images showing her pregnant, with ultrasound images, that emerged along with disturbing deathbed fakes of Dolly Parton. McEntire shot the AI nonsense down with an Oct. 8 Facebook video to Parton, saying, "You're too young and I'm too old for any of this."
"It's like social media nowadays, it's wow, so confusing," says McEntire. "I'm in the business and need experts around to tell me, 'No, that's AI, that's not true.' You have to really source your information."
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Happy's Place' Reba McEntire in love, engaged at 70: 'I feel like a teenager'
Reporting by Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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