Reba McEntire and Boyfriend Rex Linn Are ‘Head Over Heels in Love’: She’s ‘Absolutely Smitten’

Even though Reba McEntire and her new boyfriend, Rex Linn, have only been dating since earlier this year, the two are “head over heels in love,” an insider exclusively tells Closer Weekly. In fact, the country music star “can’t remember” the last time she felt “so strongly about a man.”

“After Reba and Rex’s first date, COVID hit and they’ve been spending hours chatting on FaceTime because of social distancing and got to know each other that way,” the source shares. “They can’t wait to meet again and know it’ll be so easy and magical.”

Since they grabbed dinner in New York City in early January, Reba, 65, has been “absolutely smitten” with the CSI: Miami star, 63. “[She] thinks [Rex is] just fabulous and such a sweetheart,” the insider dishes. “She describes him as a breath of fresh air and gets butterflies whenever she hears his voice.”

Aside from Rex’s successful acting career and handsome good looks, the “Fancy” songstress — who was married to Charlie Battles from 1976 to 1987 and Narvel Blackstock from 1989 to 2015 — admires his “attractive personality traits,” the source notes. “Reba says Rex is such a caring and understanding man.”

The Grammy Award winner first opened up about her hot new romance during an episode of her “Living & Learning” podcast in early October. At the time, Reba revealed she was dating a “very special” guy while chatting with cohost Melissa Peterman and guest star Kristin Chenoweth.

“Yeah, I am [dating] Rex Linn … and we’ve been talking during the pandemic,” she gushed. “It’s good to have a person to talk to, [to] laugh with [and] get into subjects about what’s going on.”

While they’ve been keeping in touch over the phone for the last six months, Reba said she’s gotten really comfortable sharing details of her “private life” with the Cliffhanger actor. “[We’ve been] having discussions about our past, our [families], funny stories, him being an actor, me being an actress,” the Little Rascals alum marveled.

“He’s very into my music, I’m very into his career,” she sweetly continued, noting how thankful she feels to have a man like Rex by her side. “It’s just great getting to talk to somebody who I find very interesting, very funny and very smart, and is interested in me too.”

Prior to her relationship with the Rush Hour actor, Reba was dating her former boyfriend, Anthony “Skeeter” Lasuzzo. After the ex-lovebirds called it quits following two years together in November 2019, a friend close to the Reba alum insisted she was doing “better than ever.”

“Reba may have split up with Skeeter, who she really thought was a keeper, but she sure didn’t show any signs of sadness,” the source shared with Closer. “Don’t shed any tears for Reba. Single or attached, there’s no stopping her.”