Reba McEntire Describes Symptoms She Experienced With COVID-19

In early August, Reba McEntire hopped on a TikTok livestream to chat with her fans. She toured her home, introduced everyone to her boyfriend Rex Linn, and sat down for a Q&A session.

But the livestream wasn’t all fun and games. In a serious moment, McEntire encouraged her fans to stay safe in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then she revealed that she and Linn both contracted COVID-19 despite being fully vaccinated.

“It’s not fun to get this,” she said. “I did get it. Rex and I got it and it’s not fun. You don’t feel good. We were both vaccinated and we still got it, so stay safe, stay home, and be protected the best you can.”

At the time, McEntire didn’t say how long it had been since she and Linn had COVID-19. She opened up further about her experience with the virus during an interview with Variety.

McEntire told the publication she and Linn contracted the virus around July 17th. Since she had been vaccinated, McEntire thought she had a sinus infection, not COVID-19:

“…I had been vaccinated, and thank God, because I only was laying on the couch for two or three days, maybe four. I thought I had a sinus infection, because I wasn’t down for the count, in the hospital. I just laid around and watched all my favorite shows on Netflix and Prime Video and Hulu.”

But then McEntire lost her sense of smell. That was the first thing that made her think “Wait a minute, maybe I have COVID, the Delta variant.”

McEntire said it came as “a shock” to her when she got tested and found out she had COVID-19. She recalled how a friend of hers, Red Steagall, contracted COVID-19 in December and was so sick, he had to be hospitalized. Even though McEntire didn’t feel the best while she had COVID-19, she never needed to go to the hospital like Steagall did.

Now that a month has passed since she was sick with COVID-19, McEntire said her recovery is going well and she’s “feeling great.” She was also happy to share that her sense of smell has returned.

“You know what, last night I smelled something and I went, oh my gosh,” she said. “What you take for granted all the time, with your sense of taste and smell.”

We’re glad to hear McEntire and Linn are feeling better now. It’s a good thing too, because McEntire has some busy months ahead of her!

One thing McEntire is looking forward to is the release of her new three-disc box set, Revived Remixed Revisited. The collection will be released on October 8, and will feature new versions of some of McEntire’s most iconic songs.

A track that got the “Remix” treatment is “I’m A Survivor,” the theme song from McEntire’s Reba sitcom. You can listen to the audio of that remix below.

We can’t wait to hear the rest of the songs in the Revived Remixed Revisited collection!