EXCLUSIVE: 'Happy's Place' Star Reba McEntire 'REFUSING to Let Partner of Five Years Rex Linn Marry Her' – Despite His 'Repeated Pleas to Put a Ring on Her'
Reba McEntire 'refuses to marry Rex Linn despite his repeated pleas,' sources say.
Feb. 11 2025, Published 6:30 a.m. ET
Happy's Place star Reba McEntire just celebrated her fifth anniversary with her "Sugar Tot" lover Rex Linn, but the country legend's marriage-phobia is putting their relationship in less than a happy place, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
"I'm fine with the way we are," McEntire said. "If Rex ever wants to get married, then we'll talk about it, but I'm fine. I love our relationship 100 percent."
The Voice judge, 69, even insisted that Linn, 68, be cast in a main role on the NBC sitcom as a way to ensure they'd be able to spend more time together, a source said.
Linn, a lifelong bachelor, is eager for marriage – but McEntire isn't budging, our insiders say..
Despite McEntire's denials, insiders said Linn has popped the question on more than one occasion – only to get stonewalled by McEntire, who is still traumatized by her two previous marriages, both of which were abject failures.
"Reba likes things the way they are and she fears if they marry, it will change their dynamic to the point where it blows up in their faces and she will be a three-time loser in love," our insider said.
The Queen of Country was married to rancher Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987. After their divorce, she went on to wed Narvel Blackstock, a former band member who became her manager, in 1989.
Her 2015 split from Narvel Blackstock left McEntire wary of another walk down the aisle.
McEntire was devastated when Blackstock pulled the plug on their 26-year union in 2015.
"Reba thought she and Narvel would be together forever, and it crushed her that he left her," a source said. "That's a big reason why she's hesitant about marrying Rex – she's learned from the previous pain she's endured that nothing lasts forever."
But lifelong bachelor Linn is eager to take the plunge, a friend told RadarOnline.com.
McEntire's past heartbreaks make her fear a third failed marriage with Linn.
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"Rex has never been married, so he operates from a place where he can't fully relate to what Reba dealt with emotionally in her first two marriages," the pal added.
"He believes he and Reba are made for each other, and getting married would wrap a wonderful bow around their love story. But there are worries that if he keeps pushing the idea, Reba is going to run the other way, and that will be the end of them."
