Reba McEntire and Rex Linn were engaged for several months before confirming it on the red carpet at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards last month.

McEntire, 70, gushed that she’s “happier now than I've ever been in my life,” in a new interview with PEOPLE for the publication’s cover story. She confirmed in the story, which published online on Tuesday (October 21) and will be available on stands on Friday (October 24), that Linn proposed to her last December. She told PEOPLE with a smile: “I've never been loved by a man like Rex Linn. Rex is a very tender-hearted man, and I just love him with all my heart. He's a good guy. Real bashful though.”

“We got engaged December the 24th, Christmas Eve, in Leipers Fork [Tennessee, outside of Nashville],” McEntire said in an interview clip PEOPLE posted on Instagram. “We were going to make the announcement when we got back to L.A. in January, and the fires happened. And it wasn’t appropriate. And so, our joy was like, ‘oh my gosh, these people are losing their homes.’ They’re taken out of their home. We had to evacuate twice. So, that wasn’t the time, and the time never presented itself until the Emmys, when it just happened.

“It wasn’t planned at all. It was his choice,” she continued. “We went to Africa last year, and he had planned — he took the ring, but nothing ever presented itself. …He’s very romantic. Very romantic. It was up to him, totally. Yeah. I had no idea. It was a total surprise. It was Rex Linn timing. I mean, I totally was thrilled to death. And I asked him, I said, ‘well, when do you want to do this?’ He said, ‘oh…let’s have fun with the engagement time.’ So, we haven’t set a date or anything. We’re just enjoying each other.

“Oh, never give up,” McEntire said. “if you’re in heartbreak right now, just take care of yourself. Take care of your heart. And then be open with it.because I was not looking for love at all. So it just happens at the right time, right place. God’s timing is everything.”

McEntire and Linn met in the early 1990s, filming Kenny Rogers’ The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw. Linn asked McEntire on a date when the couple reconnected on the set of Young Sheldon in early 2020. McEntire said during a previous appearance on the Jennifer Hudson Show that after going to dinner, she and Linn “went down the street to a wine bar and they said, ‘well, I understand you’ve already had dinner, but we do have some good appetizers…we have tater tots.’” Linn decided in that moment that McEntire’s nickname would be “tater tot,” and McEntire decided to name Linn “sugar tot” in return. They’ve “been together ever since.”

Now, the pair work together on the set of Happy’s Place (and hinted at a budding romance between their two characters in the upcoming season). The Julie Abbott- and Kevin Abbott-created comedy also reunites McEntire with Reba cast mate Melissa Peterman, plus Belissa Escobedo, Pablo Castelblanco and Tokala Black Elk. Other former Reba stars who have made guest appearances in the first season include Christopher Rich and Steve Howey, and JoAnna Garcia Swisher, who played McEntire’s daughter on the early 2000s family series, will appear on the second season of Happy’s Place. The series stars McEntire as Bobbie, “a tough but lovable woman who inherits her late father’s Tennessee tavern - only to discover that her new co-owner is also the half-sister she never knew she had,” per NBC. “They couldn’t be more different, but they’ll navigate this new life together... because at Happy’s Place, everyone is family.”

McEntire said in an interview with iHeartCountry earlier this year that “it is very important to have heart in there,” when creating a successful sitcom. “You gotta laugh, but you gotta cry. You’ve got to hit all of those emotions.” The legendary country star and coach on The Voice said of her Happy’s Place cast, “we love each other. We respect each other’s opinion on things, their individual lifestyle, their background, their heritage. It’s a fun family.”

“Getting to work with Rex, drive to work with Rex and do the show, the rehearsals, drive home, talk about it, rehearse together — that’s what’s really special for me,” McEntire told PEOPLE. “I’ve not had that before. …I love this chapter in my life. I'm very grateful.”

The second season of Happy’s Place will premiere on November 7.

Bo Dalton