Reba McEntire and Rex Linn Hold Hands Walking the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards Red Carpet

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn enjoyed a night out together at the 2025 Academy of Country Music Awards.

The couple arrived hand in hand at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas on Thursday, May 8. McEntire, 70, stunned in bedazzled black pant suit and statement belt. Linn, 68, wore a coordinated look that featured dark jeans, a black sport coat and matching button up. He added a pop of color with a light blue tie.

As the pair posed together, they held each other’s hands while smiling for the camera.

McEntire is the emcee for country music’s biggest night. This is her 18th time hosting the ACMs. She made her hosting debut in 1986 alongside Mac Davis and John Schneider.

“I’m thrilled to be coming back to host the 60th ACM Awards on Prime Video,” McEntire said in a July 2024 press release. “It’s going to be an absolute can’t miss show and I can’t wait to see everybody back in Texas!”

Linn has been by McEntire’s side since 2020, but their relationship didn’t start off romantically. The pair initially connected while filming the 1991’s The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. After working together, McEntire and Linn remained friends who kept in touch. Their dynamic ultimately changed as they continued to chat more frequently.

“We’ve kept in contact with each other over the years, and we both know the same people, so it was just like good friends getting back together having dinner in January,” she explained on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in November 2020. “And then we started texting and talking on the telephone, getting to know each other better during the quarantine.”

The twosome made their relationship official later that year when walked the red carpet together at the Country Music Awards.

In addition to their personal connection, McEntire and Linn have worked together on various projects including the TV series Big Sky and most recently Happy’s Place. McEntire opened up to Us Weekly exclusively in October 2024 about what it was like to work alongside her long-term partner. whom she deemed “the love of my life.”

“Rex and I are best friends. We have the same likes and dislikes. We’re foodies. We love to cook,” she gushed in her cover story. “We each wanted to be a cowboy and a cowgirl. Then we got into the entertainment business instead. Our dynamic works on and off-screen.”

Earlier this year, McEntire and Linn celebrated their fifth anniversary. The country singer honored Linn, whom she lovingly refers to as her “Tater Tot.”

“Celebrating five years of tater tots this week! ❤️,” she wrote via Instagram in January, sharing a photo of her and Linn at a dinner date.