Reba McEntire‘s new campaign allowed her to return to her real estate roots, which will feel familiar for fans of her original sitcom.
“Isn’t that funny that I’m doing this commercial and I was a realtor on Reba?” McEntire, 70, quipped during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly in Nashville while filming a series of sitcom-inspired ads for Realtor.com’s “Nearly Home” campaign. “It’s really fitting and I walked into it perfectly.”
Reba, which aired from 2001 to 2007, followed McEntire as a single mom who tried to take care of everyone in her house after divorcing her husband amid his affair. For those who don’t rewatch Reba like Us, Reba ultimately went into a career as a real estate agent — and McEntire even got a chance to share the screen with pal Dolly Parton as part of the role. .
“But when Dolly was there, that makes it even more special doing this,” McEntire recalled. “It brings back memories with [Steve Howey‘s character] Van, who was my son-in-law. He was also my partner in our real estate business.”
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McEntire’s fictional real estate roots made her Realtor.com’s “Nearly Home” campaign the perfect fit. The campaign highlights relatable ups and downs of the home buying and selling process with the purpose of making it feel more accessible.
“What is so neat about Realtor.com is that you can just get on the app. They’ve got over a half a million new listings every month. I didn’t know about Realtor.com when I moved to Nashville,” she noted to Us. “So in the last 10 years, I’ve had to look for a new home. I wished I’d have had it then.”
McEntire continued: “I love my realtor but I wish I’d have had Realtor.com because that way you could look at the listings and really dive into it.”
As for what makes a house a home for McEntire? “A view with the backyard [being] close to activities you like and if I’d had children, the Realtor.com app would show how far it is to each school and places of interest,” she shared. “The app gives everything. It’s really interesting.”
The first episode of this campaign shows Reba giving a young couple advice about how to uncomplicate the home-buying search with tools such as RealListings, RealCommute, RealChoice Selling and RealView Maps.
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“As I learned more about Realtor.com, I saw how they have amazing tools for home buyers and sellers, are the most trusted site by real estate professionals and have over 500,000 new listings a month — and I was sold … pun intended!” McEntire detailed in a statement. “A home brings a sense of comfort, relief and belonging that everyone deserves. This new campaign will help people become more positive, energized and hopeful about their home search. When it comes to something as important as your home, you want the best team on your side.”
The ad also comes days before McEntire is set to host the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards, which will stream live on Prime Video Thursday, May 8. McEntire, who will present ACM’s Single of the Year award, is also preparing to start filming season 2 of her hit NBC sitcom Happy’s Place.
“It is so gratifying. We’re so thankful and grateful. [I get to work] with Rex Linn, my boyfriend and Melissa [Peterman] who I’ve worked with before [on Reba] and have known her since 2001,” she told Us. “Then having Belissa [Escobedo], Tokala [Black Elk] and Pablo [Castelblanco] as the other cast members — we’re all so different. It’s an eclectic group that is so much fun getting everybody together. We learn from each other and we feed off each other. They’re great actors and we just had the best time. We can’t wait to go back and start working on season 2.”
