Reba McEntire Transforms Into a Singing Colonel Sanders for New KFC Ad [WATCH]
No, you're not imagining it: Colonel Sanders looks (and sounds!) an awful lot like Reba McEntire in this new KFC ad ... because that's her underneath the iconic white hair and glasses! McEntire is the first music star, and the first woman, to take on the role.
Readers can press play above to watch McEntire's new KFC commercial, which promotes the fast-food chain's Smoky Mountain BBQ fried chicken and will officially premiere on Jan. 28. Onstage in a crowded saloon, McEntire -- er, Sanders -- puts on a flashy show to promote KFC's new flavor; viewers will be able to spot McEntire -- as herself this time -- in the audience.
"I'm Colonel Sanders / Same as always / Absolutely nothing's changed," McEntire-as-Sanders sings. "Oh, please ignore any likeness to famous country singers / I’m definitely not a woman.”
According to USA Today, McEntire is the 11th person to play Colonel Sanders. She tells the AP she "got a big kick" out of taking on the role; she was asked about doing so in December.
“I grew up with Kentucky Fried Chicken. It’s part of my story, and I’m so excited to now be part of theirs,” McEntire says in a press release. “I’ve held a lot of roles in my life -- sort of like the Colonel himself -- but this is certainly the most unique one yet.”
In addition to being a country music superstar, McEntire has taken on numerous acting roles throughout her career. Her movie debut came in January of 1990, in Tremors; she's also appeared in the TV movie The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw with Kenny Rogers and Burt Reynolds, and in the Rob Reiner film North, among others. The Oklahoma native starred as Annie Oakley in the Broadway version of Annie Get Your Gun in 2001, and her her eponymous sitcom aired on the WB network from 2001 until 2007.
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