Why Reba McEntire + Rex Linn Didn’t Get Engaged in Africa

Reba McEntire and Rex Linn got engaged during a Christmas Eve walk in 2024, at a favorite spot in Tennessee near their home.

Sounds like the perfect time and place — but did you know it was actually a Plan B?

Linn originally intended to get down on one knee while he and McEntire were on an African safari earlier in the year, and he spent the trip carrying the ring in his pocket. Linn has said that the right opportunity simply never presented itself.

It turns out he got close to proposing: But there was a big, scary problem with the spot he picked.

Why Didn’t Rex Linn Propose to Reba McEntire in Africa?

During McEntire and Linn’s recent stop on The Drew Barrymore Show, Linn explains that he spent the safari scouting potential proposal stops, and when he finally found one he thought was perfect, he ran the idea by their local tour guide, Mumps.

Read More: Here’s What Reba McEntire Has Said About Marrying Rex Linn

“I came around the corner one evening. I said, ‘Hey Mumps, I’m thinking about proposing to Reba,'” Linn remembers.

“I said, ‘But I haven’t found a place. But you know, we were driving back down this road, and over on the left side, there’s a little body of water down there, there’s kind of a pretty meadow, and I was thinking about doing that,'” he continues.

But the tour guide stopped him right there.

“He just looked at me. He goes, ‘Well, brother, that’s sort of an evening migratory walkway for some male leopards. It wouldn’t be a good time,'” Linn continues.

It was then that he decided maybe it wasn’t worth it to force finding a picture-perfect proposal spot.

“I thought, ‘Yeah, you know what, I’ll just back off,'” Linn says drily.

Why Did Reba McEntire + Rex Linn Keep Their Engagement a Secret?

By the time the world found out McEntire and Linn were engaged, they’d already been fiancées for several months.

Read More: Reba McEntire + Rex Linn Have Been Engaged Longer Than We Thought

They didn’t keep it from fans intentionally. McEntire has explained that they planned to share their happy news in January 2025, after getting back to Los Angeles from holiday festivities.

But then, the L.A. wildfires broke out, and they felt “it wasn’t appropriate” to celebrate at such a difficult time for so many people.