Will Reba McEntire + Rex Linn’s ‘Happy’s Place’ Characters Start Dating in Season 2?

For fans hoping for an onscreen romance between Reba McEntire and Rex Linn’s Happy’s Place characters, the finale episode of Season 1 might have been a bit of a disappointment.

Bobbie (played by McEntire) and Emmett (Linn) got close, but ultimately shied away from a relationship that might throw their longstanding friendship into jeopardy.

But it seems there’s still hope for this real-life couple to start a relationship onscreen.

In a new social media post, they threw some strong hints that their will-they-or-won’t-they dynamic will fall into the “will they” category in the show’s second season.

The video, which was filmed onset, shows Linn talking about Season 2 of Happy’s Place as McEntire looks on from the background.

“There’s rumors that maybe Emmett and Bobbie get together. We don’t know that for a fact,” he says.

“But it would be great for Bobbie if she was with Emmett,” he jokes, as McEntire makes a face of mock confusion. “I mean, that’s how I look at it.”

What Happened in Season 1 of Happy’s Place? 

McEntire stars as Bobbie McAllister, who just inherited a bar owned by her father “Happy.”

She then discovers that she has a half-sister named Isabella (played by Belissa Escobedo), with whom she must share ownership. Much of the humor stems from the pair’s age and cultural differences.

Linn plays Emmett, the short-order cook working at the bar.

What Have Showrunners Said About a Possible Romance Between Bobbie and Emmett? 

Executive producer Kevin Abbott, who also worked on McEntire’s 2000s sitcom Reba, told US Weekly that show creators weren’t originally sure whether Happy’s Place would be picked up for enough episodes to properly build their relationship.

“We like to track these out and then build them so when we get there, it is a surprise,” he explains.

But Abbott also said that he hoped to create a romance story line for McEntire on this show, which was something he never really got to do on Reba.

“The one story we could not tell on the original show was relationships,” he reflected.

“There were love interests but the chemistry never worked,” Abbott goes on to say. “We tried a couple different times and those were horrible episodes — from my point of view. They were always very tough episodes for me because they just didn’t work well.”

Reba + Rex’s Real-Life Romance

Happy’s Place is well-positioned to finally give McEntire a love interest story line with chemistry, since she and Linn are a couple in real life.

The pair started dating in early 2020, just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Though pandemic shut-downs forced them to stay apart, they bonded over virtual coffee dates.

The couple recently celebrated their fifth anniversary.

When is Season 2 of Happy’s Place Starting?

Happy’s Place will return to NBC on Nov. 7. The show is keeping its Friday night slot, and back-to-back episodes will air on Fridays for the foreseeable future.

It’ll be a busy fall for McEntire, who is also returning as a coach on The Voice.

The hit reality TV competition resumes in September. McEntire is one of four star coaches, along with Snoop Dogg, Niall Horan and Michael Bublé.

Famous Singers from The Voice, Then + Now

Ten years (and counting) made a huge difference for many of the most popular singers and stars of The Voice. Blake Shelton looks noticeably different, but so do some of country music’s most memorable performers.

Winners like Cassadee Pope and Danielle Bradbery wore baby faces when they auditioned during their respective seasons. The same can be said for Morgan Wallen, a forgotten castmember from the show who’s transformed more than anyone else on this list of The Voice stars then and now.

Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes