Reba McEntire and Rex Linn began dating in 2020, and the couple became engaged in December 2024 after Linn proposed near their home in Tennessee. But that wasn’t his original plan. The actor had first hoped to pop the question during the pair’s African safari trip in June 2024.

While appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show, Linn explained why the African proposal never happened. “When we went to Africa, I took the ring with me,” he said, noting that the perfect moment “never presented itself.”

He recalled that when he finally thought he’d found the right spot, he ran the idea past their safari guide. “We had an African guide named Mumps, and I came around the corner one evening and said, ‘Hey Mumps, I’m thinking about proposing to Reba.’ I told him about this pretty meadow by the water I’d seen earlier. And he just looked at me and said, ‘Well, brother, that’s an evening migratory walkway for male leopards. It wouldn’t be a good time.’”

Linn laughed as he remembered his reaction: “I knew right then that I was done looking for another place. I thought, ‘Yeah… I’ll just back off that one.’”

Both McEntire and Linn also shared that their dream honeymoon would be another African adventure. “It’s always our number one destination,” McEntire said. “We just love it.”

The country music legend later described the real proposal in an interview with USA Today in November 2025. After returning from Africa with the ring still tucked safely away, Linn took McEntire for a Christmas Eve walk near a creek on their Tennessee ranch — a place special to both of them. “I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘Would you marry me? I want to cross the finish line with you,’” McEntire recalled. She hugged him before answering, which made Linn nervous. “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 joked that the pause felt endless. “It was about 21 seconds. And even a five-second pause feels like an hour,” he said. “I thought, if she doesn’t say yes, I’ll just disappear into that creek. But then she said yes three times.”

McEntire says she is savoring every moment of this chapter. “I feel like a teenager again,” she shared. “It’s just a wonderful time. I’m 70 years old, 50 years in the business, and I’m happier now than I’ve ever been. God saved the best for last.”

In a November interview with E! News, the Voice coach added that although they’re not rushing into wedding plans, they know it will be joyful — and very them. “It’s gonna be a nontraditional wedding because that’s Rex and me,” she said. “We like comfort, we love friends, we love food.”