So the monologues are usually written in advance. Reba did say, that all the EOTY were going to be involved. I feel like there was plans for a Carrie performance and something fell through. Perhaps there was going to be a performance of Hallelujah, and John couldn’t make it last minute, or something happened. Maybe a performance of it was to be pre recorded, since she was in NY, and it didn’t come out to her standards. You had a lot of people drop out due to Covid, maybe the last announcement was Hallejuah, and something happened with John, making him not able to attend, due to COVID. If he pulled out prior to the announcement, then it would be pointless to say anything.
Small doubt, but perhaps it was Tears of Gold, and her duet partner couldn’t make it. I feel like the intention was for Carrie to perform and something fell through. Reba and Carrie were recently together, I doubt if there wasn’t a plan for her to do something, they would of left that line in the monologue.