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Rex Linn and Reba McEntire are Happy’s Place cutest couple!
In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE at NBC’s Comedies celebration with PEOPLE and Entertainment Weekly, Linn opened up about what it’s like to be on set with his longtime girlfriend.
His Happy’s Place costar, Melissa Peterman, was first to weigh in and shared how “adorable” it was to see the love birds share little moments together while filming the highly anticipated sitcom.
“Often times, we’re taking a five minute break or we’re having breakfast or lunch and we have a bar set,” she recalled. “You look over and they’re in a booth at the bar and it looks like they’re legitimately on a date at a restaurant just sitting together being so adorably cute.”
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Despite the sneaky moments, Peterman said, “They’re also really professional about it too.”
“I mean it’s very cute, but at the same time, the minute we get back to work, you’re back to work and you make her run lines all the time,” she added, pointing to Linn.
“We’re running lines constantly,” Linn replied, blushing. “But every once in a while, I’ll sneak by for a quick kiss, just a peck on the cheek and keep on moving. It’s fun.”
Peterman joked “I do that with her too,” though she doesn’t get quite the “same reaction.”
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McEntire and Linn have known each other since 1991 but their relationship didn’t become romantic until 2020. The two reconnected following the death of her mother and grew closer during quarantine. Soon, they began dating and have been together ever since.”He was in Los Angeles, and I was in Oklahoma because my Mama had just died,” McEntire recalled of how they became more than friends. “We didn’t get to see each other from March to June, but we’d talk over Zoom and FaceTime four to five times each day. We created a bond and an intimacy that was getting to know each other without being physical.”
While McEntire said she “really wasn’t interested in finding love again” after her 2015 divorce from her ex-husband of 26 years, music manager Narvel Blackstock, she couldn’t be happier that Linn came into her life.
“He’s the love of my life,” she said. “We’re pretty much inseparable.”