Dolly Parton is happily married since near the beginning of her career. Her husband is secure enough in their marriage that he’s okay with her having a crush once in a while. Dolly’s crushes on various men in the entertainment industry over the years. Though her husband is a private business owner that prefers to stay out of the spotlight. Dolly’s first crush is Johnny Cash and is having crushes on several of her other peers in the industry. Join Facts Verse as Dolly Parton just revealed her biggest celebrity crushes.
Dolly Parton is a rare figure in entertainment that marries just one person throughout the majority of her life. That lucky guy is Carl Dean Thomas, who Dolly met when she was just 18 years old. After Dolly and Carl meet, the two marry only two years later. Their relationship starts when Dolly begins her career in the entertainment industry. Carl prefers to keep out of the spotlight in the decades since Dolly attains superstardom.
Some may wonder how Dolly and Carl’s relationship has lasted so long. The two have a good deal in common, with a shared affinity for their country home. However, they also keep an open mind toward each other’s differences and needs. Dolly doesn’t pester him too much about the fact that he likes to stay out of the spotlight. When it comes to her career in the entertainment industry. In Dolly’s case, it means that Carl doesn’t make a fuss if Dolly develops feelings while at work.
Dolly’s decades-long career in the entertainment industry is the reason that she brushes shoulders with pretty attractive and charismatic men. Men in Carl’s position will find themselves being jealous of this constant competition. His cool head when it comes to these matters allows him to keep Dolly as his wife for many years. Dolly has openly talked about having many celebrity crushes over the years, with her most recent one being Jimmy Fallon.
Jimmy Fallon is the late-night talk show host that replaces Jay Leno after things fall through with Conan O’Brien. Dolly is a great rapport with the hosts, having memorable on-screen chemistry with both David Letterman and Johnny Carson. Jimmy Fallon isn’t David Letterman or Johnny Carson, he’s Dolly’s personal favorite amongst the modern lineup of talk show hosts.
Jimmy Fallon has been in the entertainment industry for decades himself, though nowhere near as long as Dolly. Before his tenure as a talk show host, Jimmy was a performer on Saturday Night Live. Since his debut as a comedic performer, Jimmy has become a household name thanks to his late-night talk show gig. The host comes under fire in recent years for some problematic behavior, but Dolly remains on the charismatic host’s side.
If Jimmy Fallon is Dolly Parton’s most recent celebrity crush, Johnny Cash was her very first one. Dolly had a crush on Johnny before she even became famous. She likes his frail figure, not realizing that this figure is actually the result of the singer’s malnutrition from abuse. Dolly works more with Johnny after becoming famous, they share a laugh about how Dolly is in love with him.
According to Dolly, it was her love for Johnny Cash that taught her what it meant to be a woman. The singer made her feel more hormonal than she ever had before, making him her very first crush. Dolly was only 13 years old the first time she met Johnny. It isn’t until her adult years that she’s clear about how she felt about the singer during her teenage years. Dolly claimed that Johnny showed her what sex appeal meant, something she later embodied.
Although Dolly has had numerous crushes over the years, she always returns to her husband Carl Dean in full force. According to Dolly, Carl will gather her a bouquet of daffodils every spring, accompanied by a personally written poem. Whatever feelings Dolly develops while on it, it becomes clear that her heart belongs to Carl whenever she returns home. If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support! Subscribe to the channel if you’d like to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Around the same time that Dolly marries Carl, she meets another man that becomes the big love of her life. He’s Porter Wagoner, a popular singer in the country music scene that is the host of The Porter Wagoner Show. During her early career, Porter noticed Dolly while she was diligently performing around the Nashville area. She finds some modest success by that point, with her song “Dumb Blonde” breaking onto the country charts.
Being a performer during the early years of her career, Dolly makes a name for herself as a songwriter. Songs played by other musicians. One such song that Dolly had written was performed by a musician by the name of Norma Rae, who was better known as the female lead singer on The Porter Wagoner Show. While Porter Wagoner was the show’s main signer, it was Norma’s job to back him up and sing duets. As well, she would sometimes get her own solo numbers.
It was this connection that got Dolly in the same room as Porter Wagoner, and she immediately made a big impression on the singer. When Norma gave Porter notice that she was going to quit the show in order to marry and start a family with her new husband, Porter knew just who to turn to when seeking out a replacement. Porter called Dolly into his offices with her guitar and asked her if she would like to be the new female lead singer on his show.
Given that becoming a part of The Porter Wagoner Show was likely to get Dolly seen by more eyes than ever before, she gladly accepted the opportunity. The transition was slightly difficult, as Norma had been the female lead singer on the show for seven years, and the audience wasn’t completely open to a new voice. Dolly’s voice was much higher and more childlike than Norma’s, and the audience found the change jarring. During Dolly’s first episode, the crowd infamously began heckling her during the first commercial break. This prompted Porter to praise and defend Dolly when the show came back on.
Porter remained a big supporter of Dolly amidst the crowd’s disapproval of her introduction. Not only did he keep Dolly on the show, but he actually gave her more time on the screen than he had given Norma. According to Porter, he felt that shoving Dolly down the throats of the audience would force them to get used to her and start enjoying her unique voice. Surprisingly, Porter turned out to be correct!
Although fans of The Porter Wagoner Show didn’t initially take too kindly to Dolly, they eventually warmed up to her. They especially liked when Porter and Dolly sang duets, but they also started appreciating Dolly as a solo performer. Soon, Dolly’s career was taking off more than ever before, and she eventually eclipsed Porter in popularity.
The true nature of Dolly and Porter’s relationship remains slightly ambiguous, though Porter would often refer to Dolly as the love of his life up until his 2007 death. Dolly likewise always expressed a great deal of love and admiration for the man that helped her become famous. Although Dolly was married at the time that they were working together, Porter was known to strike up relationships with as many of his female contemporaries as he could. Regardless of whether or not the two ever consummated their great love for one another, Porter eventually became one of Dolly’s biggest crushes in the entertainment industry, thanks to his mentorship.
While it seemed like Dolly and Porter were a match made in heaven, things eventually soured in their relationship. When Dolly started becoming a good deal more successful than Porter in her solo career, Porter started becoming jealous. Porter began convincing himself that Dolly owed him for making her a star, and this caused Dolly to start slowly withdrawing from him. Dolly was only signed onto The Porter Wagoner Show for five years but ended up staying on longer due to her amicable relationship with the show’s star. However, she ended up quitting the show when they stopped getting along. Porter became enraged and tried to sue Dolly.
Dolly’s last performance on The Porter Wagoner Show was in 1974, and the two seemed to be getting along for a period of time after Dolly left the program. They even recorded another album together in 1975, after having recorded numerous duet albums during their time together on the show. However, in 1978, Porter rekindled his jealousy towards Dolly and decided to sue her the next year.
Porter sued Dolly for a sum of $3 million, alleging that she owed him for all that he had done for her career. According to him, the success that she had garnered from appearing on his show entitled him to a part of the earnings she had made since quitting the program. Dolly, of course, alleged that this was ridiculous, though she still ended up settling out of court with her former friend for a sum of $1 million. Porter later apologized to Dolly, claiming that suing her was the dumbest thing that he had ever done. All he wanted was her love!
While Johnny Cash, Jimmy Fallon, and Porter Wagoner have all inspired hormonal feelings in Dolly Parton, no one gets her quite like husband Carl Thomas Dean. Comment down below to share if you were surprised to learn that Dolly finds Jimmy Fallon attractive or if you think that other couples could learn from the open-mindedness that she and Carl have maintained over their decades-long marriage. As always, like this video to show your support, and subscribe and hit the notification bell if you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their way!