The Happy’s Place star has been watching this 2006 comedy on Christmas Eve since her son was a little boy.
From all three of The Grinch films to It’s a Wonderful Life, there’s no shortage of holiday movies to watch on Christmas. And while Reba McEntire will be watching many of the classics, her Christmas movie lineup includes a wild outlier that’s completely unexpected.
Read on to find out all the movies the Happy’s Place star watches on Christmas Eve with her family and why The Voice Coach loves one particular non-Christmassy option so much.
Reba McEntire’s Christmas movie lineup includes a wild comedy starring Jack Black
McEntire revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in December 2024 that every Christmas Eve she watches the same batch of movies, including one that is distinctly not a holiday movie.
“Christmas Vacation is my first movie I’ll play, and then Nacho Libre,” McEntire shared. “I know it’s not a Christmas movie, but I do love it.”
Released in 2006, Nacho Libre stars Jack Black as Ignacio in this slapstick comedy about a monastery cook who trains in secret to become a Luchador to earn money for the Mexican orphanage where he grew up and now works. As the professional wrestler “Nacho,” he dons a cape and mask to conceal his identity, and chaos and silliness ensue.
While Nacho Libre has a mere 39% on Rotten Tomatoes and received rather harsh reviews from film critics when it was released, it’s a beloved and nostalgic comedy for many, including McEntire.
The “I’m a Survivor” singer shared with Entertainment Weekly that the tradition of watching Nacho Libre on Christmas Eve started because her son, Shelby Blackstock, loved it.
Country singer Reba McEntire hugs her young son Shelby.
“It’s just something we did when Shelby was a little boy, and he loved those movies,” she said, adding that they also watch Elf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. “Those are the ones we sit down and watch on Christmas Eve.”
Reba McEntire’s Christmas traditions also include going to the movies with Rex Linn
In between screenings of Nacho Libre and Christmas Vacation, McEntire told E! News she and her boyfriend, Happy’s Place co-star Rex Linn, will go see a movie to celebrate Christmas together.
“Rex and I will go see a movie. We have our Christmas on Christmas Eve, and he likes to go see movies, so we’ll do that first thing in the morning before the crowds hit the theaters,” she shared. “Then we’ll come back and we’ll have our meals … I said ‘meals,’ because we’ll have lunch and supper and probably a midnight snack. That will be our tradition.”
Rex Linn and Reba McEntire attend a reception for NBCUniversal’s Summer Press Tour for “Happy’s Place” in Pasadena, Calif
Perhaps that midnight snack will be a helping of her Christmas banana pudding and a night cap of her cinnamon old fashioned, all while Nacho Libre plays in the background.
