Reba McEntire Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock
Reba McEntire is an accomplished singer and restaurateur, but fans might be surprised to learn about her affinity for red — and other colored — Solo cups.
“Sometimes I ask to use real plates instead of paper plates. But I love Solo cups,” the “Last One to Know” songstress, 68, told Willie Geist during a Sunday, April 23, episode of Sunday Today, noting she takes a laid-back approach to planning parties. “I think that’s the main message of [my new lifestyle] book — don’t not have a party because everything doesn’t look right, or you didn’t have time to get this ready. Just go have fun.”
McEntire — who makes sure to stock “lotsa Solo cups” at her family gatherings — even revealed the inspiration behind her party-planning skills.
“I got that from Mama. At Thanksgiving, everybody wrote their name with a magic marker on their Solo cup, and that way you didn’t have to waste a lotta cups, gettin’ a new one, and you knew which one was yours,” the Voice mentor, who shares son Shelby with ex-husband Narvel Blackstock, recalled on Sunday. “And next Thanksgiving you look for your cup, ‘cause it’s still there.”
Geist, 47, was not completely sure if McEntire seriously saved the plastic cups. He asked: “Oh, really? It stays, OK, you keep it, wash it out, put it up on the shelf.”
The Reba alum then confirmed that she “still” washes the drinkware to have them ready to go for the next family parties.
“That is awesome. I love that,” the NBC anchor quipped in delight.
McEntire has long been a culinary enthusiast, even opening her own eatery Reba’s Place in Oklahoma in January.
“If you’re driving from Dallas up to Tulsa, you’re gonna pass through Atoka, and if you take a right on Main Street, right up on the left, is Reba’s Place,” the Big Sky actress told Southern Living in February of opening a restaurant in her hometown. “So we were guaranteed, if not being a destination, but as someplace to stop on the way to a destination.”
She added at the time: “[There’s] small entertainment. It’s not like big bands coming in. It’s acoustic. I didn’t want it loud so people can sit and still enjoy the music but can still talk in the meantime.”
The “I’m a Survivor” musician even bonded with her boyfriend, Rex Linn, over their similar tastes.
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“Our Valentine’s meal last year was Sonic tater tots,” McEntire told Jenna Bush Hager on Today With Hoda and Jenna earlier this month. “Well, [with] my nickname being ‘tater tot’ and his being ‘sugar tot,’ we love Sonic tater tots. They’re wonderful. And to go in there and get a No. 1 cheeseburger with everything on it and tater tots, man, that’s a great Valentine’s dinner. We loved it. We sat right there in the car and ate it.”
