Melissa Peterman Says Reba McEntire Is ‘Really Happy’ With BF Rex Linn: ‘He’s in the Family Now’

In case you were wondering the status of Reba McEntire‘s hot new romance with boyfriend Rex Linn, the country singer’s longtime friend Melissa Peterman reveals she’s “really happy.” In an exclusive interview with Closer Weekly, the Baby Daddy star opens up about her pal’s budding relationship and dishes the CSI: Miami actor is already considered part of the “family.”

“He [knows] the way to her heart,” Melissa, 49, sweetly reveals. Even though the lovebirds were “just starting to really talk” and get to know each other in quarantine amid coronavirus earlier this year, the Working Class actress told Reba, 65, that perhaps it was a “blessing.”

While chatting about whether or not Rex, 63, is “The One” for the “Fancy” songstress, Melissa dishes why they have yet to figure it out. “I think the definition of ‘The One’ changes as our lives change,” she explains.

“When you’re 20, ‘The One’ is this guy because you want to have this sort of life,” she continues. “And when you’re 40, ‘The One’ might mean something different, and I think where Reba is in her life right now, ‘The One,’ I don’t know what that definition is.”

Melissa is “unsure” of the iconic record producer’s meaning of a soulmate, but she knows her longtime pal and her new beau are “just doing well” and couldn’t be happier. “I think the luxury is getting to a place in your life where you can be content with how it is right now, and I think she’s definitely very wise about that,” the Reba alum tells Closer. “So I think for her, that’s what [‘The One’] means.”

There are so many things that Reba adores about the Cliffhanger actor, but Melissa points out the fact that he always “[shows] kindness” for her friends and family. At the time they were self-isolating at their separate homes in lockdown, the Surviving Suburbia actress says Rex was “sending these packages” of “steaks and pecan pie” to Reba’s loved ones.

“I was like, ‘Oh, perfect. Well played, Rex,'” gushes Melissa, who cohosts the “Living and Learning” podcast with Reba. “‘Well done, sir. Well done.’ He showed kindness that way, like thinking of her and her sister and family at that time.”

Having a boyfriend who shares a close relationship with her beloved family members is something that’s “really important” to the Grammy Award winner. Fortunately, Rex is “somebody who’s kind and loves everyone in her world too, which is great,” Melissa notes. “I hope he approves of me because he’s in the family now!”

As one of Reba’s best friends for more than the last 20 years, Melissa couldn’t be more thrilled that the “Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia” singer found love.

“She’s very loyal and I feel like sometimes there’s this quiet understanding that we’re gonna know each other forever,” Melissa says. “She’s true blue, a ride or die. That’s all I can say and I know that. I can call her at any point, at 3 in the morning and ask for something I needed and it would be there.”

Be sure to tune into Reba and Melissa’s “Living and Learning” podcast when new episodes premiere every Monday on Spotify!

Reporting by Carly Sloane