The clock struck 10 a.m. on the bustling set of The Kelly Clarkson Show, but the Universal Studios lot was already buzzing with the electric hum of Halloween mayhem. Pumpkins grinned from every corner, cobwebs draped the rafters like ghostly lace, and a fog machine chugged away, turning the studio into a swirling netherworld straight out of Tim Burton’s fever dream. At the center of it all stood Kelly Clarkson, transformed beyond recognition into the striped-suited, wild-haired, green-faced ghoul himself: Beetlejuice. Her band, Y’all, mirrored the madness—drummers as shrunken heads, guitarists as sandworms, the whole ensemble a riot of black-and-white stripes and mischievous mayhem. Kelly’s cackle echoed through rehearsals: “If we’re doing Halloween, we’re doing it big—no half-measures, y’all!”

But the real showstopper? The surprise guests who turned this festive frolic into a masterclass in couples’ comedy gold. Reba McEntire, 69, the Queen of Country herself, sashayed onto the stage in a gloriously over-the-top ensemble: a flowing black caftan embroidered with skeletal motifs, a towering red wig channeling Catherine O’Hara’s eccentric sculptor Delia Deetz from the 1988 cult classic Beetlejuice, and a necklace of faux bones that clinked like wind chimes from the afterlife. Reba, fresh off coaching Team Reba to glory on The Voice and starring in her new NBC sitcom Happy’s Place, was all smiles and sassy quips, her Oklahoma twang slicing through the fog like a switchblade. “Darlin’, if I have to dress up as an artsy-fartsy ghost, at least make it fabulous,” she drawled to Kelly during a quick makeup touch-up.

Then, as the cameras rolled for the live taping on October 31, 2024—timed perfectly for All Hallows’ Eve—the door to the green room creaked open with an ominous groan. Out stepped Rex Linn, 67, Reba’s silver-haired beau of four years and her on-screen foil in Happy’s Place. But this wasn’t the dapper Texan character actor fans know from CSI: Miami or Young Sheldon. No, Rex had gone full ghoul: a grotesque janitor from the afterlife, straight out of Danny DeVito’s unhinged cameo in the original film. His face was slathered in pallid greasepaint, mottled with fake bruises and oozing sores courtesy of Hollywood’s finest SFX artists. A threadbare jumpsuit hung off his lanky frame, stained with “ectoplasm” (really just neon-green slime), and a mop bucket dangled from one hand like a cursed relic. His eyes—rimmed in black kohl—gleamed with devilish intent as he shuffled toward Reba, muttering in a gravelly, undead drawl: “Honey, I’m home… from the great beyond.”

Reba’s reaction? Priceless doesn’t even begin to cover it. Her eyes widened to saucer-size, her perfectly glossed lips parted in a gasp that could curdle milk, and she recoiled like she’d seen the actual Grim Reaper moonlighting as a custodian. “Oh, Lord have mercy, Rex Linn! What in the hell is that?” she yelped, her hand flying to her chest in mock horror—though the tremor in her voice suggested it was only half-mocking. The audience erupted in peals of laughter, Kelly doubled over behind her desk (careful not to smudge her Beetlejuice makeup), and Rex—undeterred—lurched forward, mop raised like a bouquet, puckering up for a kiss. “C’mere, darlin’—just one smooch from your favorite zombie janitor!”

What happened next was pure, unadulterated hilarity: Reba swatted him away with a dramatic flail of her bone necklace, her face contorting into a hilarious mix of disgust and delight. “Gross! Gross! No way, mister—ain’t no kissin’ that face unless it’s through a hazmat suit!” she hollered, her laughter bubbling up like champagne as she backed into Kelly for cover. Kelly, wiping tears from under her false lashes, chimed in: “Girl, I’ve known you forever—you’ve never made out with that! And honey, you ain’t starting today!” The crowd lost it, applause thundering as Rex feigned heartbreak, slumping against his mop with a theatrical groan: “Aw, Reba, even the dead deserve love!”

Head below to watch Reba’s hysterical reaction when Rex leaned in for that ill-fated kiss—it’s the clip that’s already racked up 5 million views on YouTube, with fans dubbing it “The Kiss That Got Away” and “Reba’s Ultimate Nope Moment.” But this wasn’t just a viral bit of TV fluff. It was a snapshot of the effortless chemistry between two icons who’ve turned their real-life romance into a feel-good force of nature. In a world starved for genuine laughs amid the holiday hype, Reba and Rex’s spooky surprise delivered—and then some.

The Road to the Red Carpet (and the Red Wig): Reba and Rex’s Whirlwind Romance

To truly appreciate the hilarity of that near-kiss, you have to rewind to the serendipitous spark that ignited Reba and Rex’s love story—a tale as heartwarming as a country ballad and twice as enduring. It was January 2020, amid the early chaos of the pandemic, when fate threw these two together on the set of Reba’s guest spot on Young Sheldon. Rex, the gravel-voiced Texan with a resume stacked like a hay bale—CSI, The Late Shift, even voicing the principal in Better Call Saul‘s high school flashbacks—was playing a no-nonsense rancher opposite Reba’s sharp-tongued matriarch. Off-camera, over socially distanced coffees, their banter flowed like sweet tea on a summer porch.

“I thought, ‘This guy’s got that Oklahoma drawl that could charm the hide off a cow,’” Reba later confessed in a 2022 People interview, her eyes twinkling at the memory. Rex, ever the gentleman, was smitten too: “Reba’s got fire—smart, sassy, and sings like an angel with a switchblade. I was done for.” Their first “date”? A Zoom call turned impromptu cooking lesson, where Rex whipped up his mama’s chili while Reba belted out “Fancy” over FaceTime. By summer 2020, with masks optional and hearts wide open, they were official—quarantining together in Reba’s Nashville ranch, trading recipes and riding horses at dawn.

Fast-forward to 2024: four years in, and their bond is unbreakable, a blend of old-school romance and modern mischief. They’ve weathered wildfires (Reba’s Oklahoma home lost in 2024’s blazes, Rex by her side rebuilding), red carpets (hand-in-hand at the ACM Awards), and the relentless churn of Hollywood. Rex proposed subtly in 2023—not with fireworks, but with a quiet dinner at Reba’s rebuilt ranch, slipping a vintage diamond onto her finger amid plates of fried chicken. “No fuss, no muss—just us,” Reba gushed on The View. Their engagement? A low-key affair, celebrated with family barbecues and Reba’s signature red lipstick kisses. But it’s their shared projects that truly shine: Happy’s Place, the NBC sitcom debuting October 18, 2024, casts them as bickering half-siblings inheriting a bar—Reba as the no-nonsense Bobbie, Rex as her gruff counterpart, their on-screen sparks mirroring the off-screen sizzle.

Fans adore the authenticity. “Reba and Rex are couple goals—real, ridiculous, and ridiculously in love,” tweeted one devotee post-episode, her post garnering 12K likes. Their dynamic? Think peanut butter and jelly with a side of jalapeños: sweet, sticky, and packing a punch. Rex’s dry wit bounces off Reba’s razor-sharp timing like a well-honed duet, turning everyday moments into comedy sketches. Remember their 2023 CMA red carpet roast, where Rex quipped, “Marryin’ Reba means I get the queen—and her 87 Grammy noms to dust”? Or Reba’s playful Instagram Stories of Rex attempting line dancing, only to trip over his own boots? It’s this unpretentious charm that made their Kelly Clarkson Show appearance a must-watch event.

Setting the Spooky Stage: Kelly’s Beetlejuice Bonanza

No Halloween episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show is complete without Kelly’s signature over-the-top theatrics—and 2024’s was a Burton bonanza for the ages. Airing live on October 31 as part of Season 6, Episode 29, the hour-long special transformed the Burbank studio into Beetlejuice’s waiting room from hell: towering gravestones etched with punny epitaphs (“Here Lies My Diet—Died of Pizza”), a fog-shrouded desk manned by a skeleton receptionist (courtesy of puppeteer Nikk Alcaraz), and Kelly’s band reimagined as the film’s undead ensemble. Kelly, as the titular bio-exorcist, sported a towering green bouffant wig, skeletal face paint that made her look like she’d risen from a crypt, and a suit striped in black-and-white hazard lines. “Y’all, if I’m goin’ to the underworld, I’m takin’ my whole band—and a karaoke machine!” she bellowed during the opening monologue, launching into a “Kellyoke” rendition of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat (Day-O)” that had the audience howling. Her gravelly baritone, twisted into a calypso growl, was pitch-perfect pandemonium, complete with fog bursts and a sandworm puppet crashing the stage.

But Kelly didn’t stop at solo shenanigans. The episode was a who’s-who of Halloween hijinks: Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone dropped in for a skit called “Axe Marks the Spot,” wielding foam tomahawks in a nod to their podcast Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire; the Boulet Brothers from Dragula delivered a drag-haunted performance of “Toxic” that left jaws on the floor; and a heartwarming segment showcased NICU nurses dressing preemies as tiny pumpkins and ghosts, tugging at every heartstring. “Halloween’s about scares and sweetness,” Kelly declared, her Beetlejuice grin softening. “Today, we’re servin’ both—with extra slime!”

Enter Reba and Rex, slotted as the mid-show highlight to promote Happy’s Place. Kelly, a longtime pal (Reba officiated her 2013 wedding to Brandon Blackstock, after all), had teased their appearance on Instagram: “Get ready for country chaos with my fave duo—dressed to kill… or haunt!” Reba arrived first, gliding onstage in her Delia Deetz drag: the wild red curls, the avant-garde black gown slashed with white lightning bolts, and a handbag shaped like a shrunken head. “Kelly Clarkson, you devil—you said ‘festive,’ not ‘freak show!’” Reba teased, air-kissing her hostess before settling into the guest chair. The two dove into girl talk: Reba spilling on The Voice Season 26 battles (“Blake Shelton’s still the devil in denim”), her re-released 1990 album Keep On Loving You (“It’s like vinyl therapy for the soul”), and the joys of Happy’s Place (“Rex and I fight like siblings—’cause we are on TV!”).

The energy was electric—two powerhouse vocalists trading barbs like old sorority sisters. Kelly leaned in: “Reba, spill: What’s it like workin’ with your man? Does he hog the craft services?” Reba chuckled: “Darlin’, Rex hogs the heart—but he makes a mean brisket.” The audience aww’d, sensing the setup. And then… the door.

The Surprise Reveal: Rex’s Ghoul-ish Gambit and Reba’s Epic Evasion

Cue the fog machine’s crescendo and a low, rumbling sound effect—like thunder from the underworld. The studio lights dimmed to a eerie green glow, and out lurched Rex Linn, his janitor getup a masterpiece of macabre: the sallow skin dotted with “boils” (latex appliances glued by SFX wizard Jake Schmidt), a mop head fashioned from tangled Christmas lights and faux entrails, and a name tag reading “Janitor of the Damned—Will Mop for Souls.” He’d even added personal flair: a pocket stuffed with gummy worms as “worms from the grave,” and a nameplate engraved with his CSI catchphrase, “Yee-haw, afterlife!”

Reba’s face? A study in comedic genius. Her initial freeze-frame shock—eyebrows arched to her hairline, mouth agape in a perfect O—dissolved into a squeal that ricocheted off the rafters: “Rexford Linn, you ghoul! Is that my good china under all that goo?” The crowd roared, phones whipping out to capture the moment. Rex, hamming it up, dragged his mop across the stage like a zombie Zorro, zeroing in on his fiancée with undead determination. “Reba, my eternal flame—even death can’t keep me from you!” he rasped, leaning in with lips pursed in exaggerated pucker, his “boils” glistening under the lights.

Time slowed. Reba’s eyes darted—panic? Playfulness? A bit of both—as she twisted away, her caftan swirling like a matador’s cape. “Oh, no you don’t! Back off, you bucket-head!” she cried, thrusting out a palm like a traffic cop, her other hand clutching Kelly’s arm for dear life. The dodge was balletic: a sidestep that nearly toppled the guest chair, followed by a playful shove that sent Rex stumbling into his prop bucket with a splash of (harmless) green slime. Kelly, convulsing with laughter, egged it on: “Get her, Rex! Show us that afterlife affection!” But Reba held firm, her voice a hilarious hybrid of horror and hilarity: “Kelly, girl, save me! I’ve kissed cowboys, crooners, and one too many frogs—but that? Never! Not even for ratings!”

Rex, ever the pro, milked the moment—collapsing dramatically against the desk, clutching his “heart” (a foam prop oozing red confetti). “Rejected by the living and the dead! What’s a ghoul to do?” The audience’s applause was deafening, a standing ovation for the improv gold. As the lights brightened, the trio collapsed into giggles, Reba fanning herself: “Rex Linn, you nearly gave me a coronary—and that’s sayin’ somethin’ after 40 years in showbiz!” Kelly, dabbing her eyes: “Y’all, that’s why I love you two—pure chaos in the cutest package.”

The clip, uploaded to YouTube post-taping, exploded: 5.2 million views in 24 hours, trending under #RebaNope and #RexGhoulKiss. Fans dissected it frame-by-frame—Reba’s flinch at 0:47, Rex’s slime splatter at 1:02—while memes proliferated: Reba’s face photoshopped onto The Scream, captioned “When your fiancé channels Danny DeVito’s demon doppelgänger.” Even Catherine O’Hara tweeted: “Darlin’, if I wouldn’t kiss that janitor in the movie, neither should you! 😂 #BeetlejuiceForever.”

Behind the Makeup: The Heart (and Humor) of Reba and Rex’s Bond

What elevates this moment from mere viral fodder to cultural catnip is the genuine affection underscoring the antics. Reba and Rex aren’t just playing house for the cameras—their love is a slow-burn symphony, forged in the fires of late-in-life rediscovery. At 69 and 67, they’ve both danced with heartbreak: Reba’s 26-year marriage to Charlie Battles ended in 1987 amid infidelity rumors; Rex’s 1980s union dissolved after a decade. “We came to each other battle-scarred but wiser,” Rex told Entertainment Tonight in a 2024 sit-down. “Reba’s laugh? It’s my favorite sound—better than any standing ovation.”

Their dynamic thrives on this playful push-pull. Rex, the self-proclaimed “scare king” (he once rigged a fake spider in Reba’s trailer on The Voice set, earning a week’s silent treatment—and a week’s worth of revenge pranks), loves needling her gentle spots. Reba, no slouch in the sass department, retaliates with wit sharper than a stiletto. “Rex thinks he’s spooky? Honey, I’ve wrangled steers scarier than his jump-scares,” she quipped post-show. Offstage, it’s tenderness: quiet evenings at Reba’s Oklahoma ranch, where Rex grills steaks while she strums guitar; joint charity runs for Reba’s equine rescue; and whispered “I love yous” during Happy’s Place table reads.

Happy’s Place amplifies their alchemy. Premiering to 4.2 million viewers on October 18, the sitcom—created by Kevin and Julie Abbott—casts Reba as Bobbie, a widowed bar owner blindsided by a half-sister (Belissa Escobedo) claiming co-ownership. Rex plays her gruff uncle figure, a role tailor-made for his booming baritone and deadpan delivery. “It’s like writin’ fanfic about us,” Reba joked at the premiere party. Critics rave: Variety called it “a warm hug of a show, with Reba and Rex’s chemistry crackling like a bonfire.” Episode 3’s bar brawl? Pure them—Rex hoisting Reba onto the counter mid-fight, her yelp echoing their Kelly dodge.

Kelly’s role in their orbit adds layers. As Reba’s ex-stepdaughter-in-law (via Brandon), Kelly’s bond with her is ironclad—forged in divorce’s fires but tempered by mutual respect. “Reba’s family—always will be,” Kelly affirmed in a 2023 Rolling Stone profile. Their Halloween collab? A nod to that: Kelly as Beetlejuice (the chaotic ex), Reba as Delia (the resilient artist), Rex as the janitor (the loyal cleanup crew). “We picked Beetlejuice ’cause it’s about second chances—and hauntin’ the past without lettin’ it haunt you,” Kelly explained backstage.

Fan Frenzy and Festive Fallout: Why This Moment Resonates

The internet’s obsession? Relatable escapism. In a year of global jitters—elections, economy, endless sequels—Reba’s recoil is catharsis: a reminder that even icons dodge the gross stuff with grace and guffaws. TikTok duets recreate the lean-in, with users lip-syncing Reba’s “Gross!” over bad date fails. Merch spikes: Happy’s Place hoodies sell out, emblazoned with “Nope to the Afterlife.” Reba’s Keep On Loving You reissue climbs charts, fans streaming “Whoever’s in New England” as an anthem for enduring love.

Rex, basking in the buzz, posted a shirtless gym selfie (post-slime shower): “Survived the grave—now conquerin’ the couch with my queen. #GhoulNoMore.” Reba’s retort? A boomerang of her spritzing him with Lysol: “Next time, haunt someone else’s doorstep!”

As the credits rolled on that fateful episode, Kelly summed it: “Halloween’s about facin’ fears—and laughin’ at ’em. Reba, Rex—you two are my favorite fright.” For fans, it’s more: a beacon of joy in jack-o’-lantern guise, proving love’s best scares are the ones we share.