Reba McEntire turned down 'Titanic' role during tour

Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Reba McEntire says she turned down a role in Titanic because she was on tour at the time.

The 63-year-old singer and actress confirmed on Thursday's episode of Watch What Happens Live that she passed on playing Molly Brown, a part that went to Kathy Bates, in the 1997 blockbuster movie.

"We were on tour and I had a lot of people on the payroll," McEntire explained to host Andy Cohen and fellow guest Morris Chestnut.

"We had these three months already scheduled to do the movie and then they got behind on scheduling and said, 'No, we're gonna have to move this and this time,' so we couldn't reschedule all the arenas and everything," she said.

McEntire agreed with Cohen that it "kind of killed" her when the film became a huge hit.

"Well, sure. Absolutely," she said. "But you gotta take care of your people."

McEntire also addressed Roseanne Barr's criticism of her appearing as Colonel Sanders in KFC ads. Barr had tweeted she would make a better colonel and doubted whether McEntire eats fried chicken.

"I thought it was hysterical. She might eat more chicken than I do. I don't know," McEntire responded.

McEntire will release her 29th studio album, Stronger Than the Truth, on April 5. The album includes her single of the same name, which debuted last week.