Reba McEntire had "no physical contact" with her boyfriend for six months because COVID-19 pandemic hit right at the start of their relationship.

The 68-year-old country music superstar first met Rex Linn back in 1991 before reconnecting in January 2020, but he lived in Los Angeles while the singer was splitting her time between homes in Oklahoma and Nashville and it meant they had to conduct their romance over the phone and via Zoom after the coronavirus led to travel restrictions.

She told PEOPLE: "We didn’t see each other again [that year] until June 16. So it was telephones, Zooms, texting, so we got to really know each other before it was any physical contact."

Reba added of Rex: "He’s a very supportive man, I love him with all my heart."

In a previous interview on the ‘Today’ show, Reba revealed have been "pretty much inseparable ever since" that meeting in June 2020 and confirmed their first date was a movie night when they went to see Tom Hanks' film ‘News of the World’.

She previously told PEOPLE: "It's good to have a person to talk to, laugh with, get into subjects about what's going on. Discussions about our past, our family, funny stories, him being an actor, me being an actress.

"And he's very into my music. I'm very into his career. "It's just great getting to talk to somebody who I find very interesting, very funny, very smart and is interested in me, too.”

Reba has been married twice before - to Charlie Battles and Narvel Blackstock - and she's open to the idea of getting hitched for a third time.

During a recent appearance on 'Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen', the singer was asked if she would ever marry her "Sugar Tot" and she responded: "My Sugar Tot? That would be up to him. I've been married twice, he's never been married, so if he wants to, that's totally up to him."