Rex Linn’s first attempt at proposing to Reba McEntire didn’t go as planned.
Back in early September, Reba and Rex announced their engagement during a red carpet interview at the Primetime Emmy Awards.
The couple had kept their engagement private for quite a while, though. Rex had actually asked Reba to marry him on Christmas Eve.
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However, it turns out that Rex originally had a very different plan, and it was much earlier, too.
During a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, the Happy’s Place co-stars took part in the “Couple’s Challenge,” where Rex shared a funny story about how he first planned to propose, and the extremely wild reason it didn’t happen.
He explained that he was ready to pop the question while they were on vacation in Africa in June 2024.
“When we went to Africa, I took the ring with me,” he revealed.
His idea was to find the perfect moment to pop the question while they were out on a safari adventure.
“The moment that I found a little area I thought I was good [to propose], we had a guide named Mumps, and I came around the corner one evening, and I said, ‘Hey Mumps, I’m thinking about proposing to Reba,’ ” Rex said. “And he kinda looks at me, and I said, ‘But I haven’t found a place.'”
He finally found the perfect spot, and everything seemed to be lining up for the most romantic proposal he could imagine… or so he thought.
He continued, “But, you know, we were driving back down this road, and over on the left side there was a little body of water down there, there was a pretty meadow, and I was thinking about doing that…And he just looks at me and goes, ‘Well, brother, that’s an evening migratory walkway for male leopards. It wouldn’t be a good time.'”
Reba and the live audience burst into laughter as Rex added, “I knew then that I was done looking for another spot. I thought, ‘Yeah, you know what, I’ll just back off that one.'”
Even though his original plan fell through, Rex eventually found the perfect moment.
The two were taking a walk on their Tennessee ranch when he got down on one knee.
“I said, ‘What are you doing?’ and he said, ‘Would you marry me? I want to cross the finish line with you,'” Reba told USA TODAY.
Caught up in all of her feelings, Reba admitted that she forgot to say anything at first.
“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,” she joked.
Watch Rex tell the story of how he was originally going to propose to Reba in the video below.
