When Reba McEntire urged fans to "stay safe" after being diagnosed with COVID-19 last year, she was flooded with supportive messages.
At the time, the country music star revealed both she and her boyfriend, Rex Linn, had caught the virus and said: "Stay home. Just stay safe. Stay healthy. It's not fun to get this. I did get it. Rex and I got it and it's not fun. You don't feel good."
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However, soon afterward Reba opened up about her illness and said it wasn't actually coronavirus and it turned out to be a different respiratory virus.
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Speaking to Nancy O'Dell on Talk Shop Live, Reba revealed: "I did say that I had COVID but when I got tested my antibodies — it came up that I had not had COVID."
Despite originally getting a positive test, she believed it was a false positive.
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"I had my antibodies from my vaccine," she explained. "So I had all the symptoms, so I was kinda probably — I did get tested, you know the test that I had and it said that I had it but then the nurse that came and tested me for my antibodies said that I probably had the RSV virus."
© Photo: Getty ImagesReba and her boyfriend thought they had COVID-19
RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) isn't pleasant but the death rate from it is far lower than with COVID. In her original statement, Reba expressed her surprise at getting the virus which caused a pandemic as she had been vaccinated.
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Her TikTok video explained her situation as she spoke to the camera. "I just want to say one thing: this has been a hard year and it's getting rougher again," she said in August 2021.
Reba has since made a full recovery and is back on tour
"You guys, please stay safe. Wear your mask. Do what you have to do. Stay home. It's not fun to get this. I did get it. Rex and I got it and it's not fun. You don't feel good. We were both vaccinated and we still got it, so stay safe, stay home, and be protected the best you can."
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