Reba McEntire is a big fan of Dua Lipa, as evidenced by the country queen recently recording her own version of “Don’t Start Now” and a source exclusively tells Life & Style she’s looking to team up with the English singer on other projects in the future.
“Reba didn’t just choose to cover Dua’s song out of thin air, she’s a huge fan and they’re actually friends,” the insider says. The three-time Grammy-winner, 70, doesn’t just cover any artist’s work, either. She’s particularly choosy when it comes to musical interest and has performed her own versions of many other much-lauded musicians’ hits, even outside of Country music, including Beyoncé’s “If I Were a Boy” and Lady Gaga‘s “Bad Romance.”
“She respects Dua’s talent so much and she thinks it would be super fun to collaborate with her in some way,” the source adds. “She’s throwing out different ideas, including doing a song together.”
Though, not everyone was thrilled with Reba stepping outside of the genre she’s been dominating since the 1970s. Plenty of TikTok users felt compelled to defend Reba’s song selection in the comments of a video of her performing Dua’s song at the Florida Strawberry Festival in Plant City, Florida on February 28, after Reba started catching hate for her pop preference.
“Y’all better leave Reba ALONE in these comments!!!! Let my girl have fun!” one person wrote.
“These comments aren’t passing the vibe check. That’s REBA yall leave her alone she can sing whatever she wants for fun. Yall could NEVER.” another stated.
Others referenced her hit song “I’m a Survivor” admonishing her naysayers, “Dang y’all hating on a single mom who’s working two jobs just trying to have fun at her first job.”
Beyond a potential musical collaboration that would seems to have the support of a large portion of Reba’s fans, the source notes the iconic singer’s show, Happy’s Place, which frequently hosts guests stars, would be ideal if Dua wanted to stretch her acting muscles in a low-pressure environment around her friend.
“Dua’s done some acting and wants to do more so Reba is also throwing around the idea of having her come on as a guest star on the next season of her sitcom,” the source adds. “They haven’t started filming yet so there’s room to get her involved, even if it’s just for a small part.”
Dua has at the very least shown interest in men in the movie-making business. The “Let’s Get Physical” singer is reportedly engaged to actor Callum Turner, though neither of them have confirmed it officially, and was previously linked to French film director Romain Gavras.
“Obviously, it would have to fit into Dua’s schedule but there’s definitely interest there,” the insider says. With Hollywood at her fingertips, “Acting is something Dua has been expanding into, she’s done a few things as far as films go but she hasn’t done comedy and she’s naturally very funny, so Reba thinks this could be a great chance for her to show the world how multi-talented she is.”
