The reigning queen of country music, Dolly Parton shows her fair share of outlandish stories that receives through the ol’ rumor mill. Over the years she gets a number of high-profile relationships with stars like Kenny Rogers, Elvis Presley, and even Burt Reynolds – but she did her best to keep her personal life private. With not much to work with. her fans and the media have had to fill in all the blanks with their own speculation. Unfortunately, this results in quite a bit of absolutely bogus lies spreading about her. But we here at Facts Verse think that the Queen of Nashville deserves better than that. We’ve done our research and checked our sources and are prepared to debunk some of the wildest Dolly myths. Are you ready?
Does She Really Have A Husband?
Okay, this one is one of the wilder rumors that we’re going to address. According to some conspiratorial Dolly fans, Carl Dean, Parton’s husband of more than 50 years now isn’t even a real person. Truth is, he’s a very private individual. He didn’t like to be in the spotlight and never saw with Parton at honorary events, pageants, award ceremonies, or shows.
It’s also particularly difficult to find a photo of him with his wife. So yeah, a subset of the Dolly Parton fan base thinks that Dean is a mythical figure. For the couples, 50th anniversary Parton did share the tale of their romantic journey on her official website. According to her, they met back in 1954 outside of a laundromat somewhere down in Tennessee.
Now, the extra paranoid might just see her story as a ploy to keep the myth of his existence going but the rational will likely concede that he is indeed a real person. Especially after hearing what he has to say.
Responding to the rumors that he didn’t exist Dolly’s husband reached out to the media and did an interview with Taste of Country where he confirmed their union with a little extra touch of sweetness. According to him, he immediately thought about marrying Dolly the second he locked eyes with her.
“I’m gonna marry that girl’ he thought to himself.
Dean also commented on how he felt like the day he met his wife was the day that his life really began.
Is Dolly Really High Maintenance?
At first glance, you might assume that Dolly is the kind of star that would require a high-level of upkeep. With her big blonde hair, her layers of dazzling make-up and beauty products, and her elaborate wardrobe full of alluring outfits, it makes sense that someone might assume that she might require a little bit more attention than you’re average star but in an interview with the Mirror Dolly insisted that she was in fact relatively low-maintenance.
While she’s backstage, all that she ever asks for is a few tissues, some glue to fix any broken nails, a mirror to make sure her look is on point, and some water. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?
She admits that she loves spending her time getting ready for her shows and that she especially loves adding all the glitter and glamour but other than that she prefers to keep things pretty low-key when she’s not about to be up on stage. Sure, she has an image to uphold, but when she’s at home, she enjoys lounging around in sweaters and sweatpants like everyone else.
In between shows while she’s on tour she loves to unwind in her RV with her husband. While she’s not performing she’s actually remarkably down-to-earth.
Is She Secretly Tatted Up?
Maybe you hear this one already, but some people like to think that Dolly covers in very stealthily covered tattoos. According to the rumor, Dolly always conceals her arms with long-sleeved blouses and dresses because she covers in ink. Well, is there any evidence for this assertion or is it straight up grade-A malarkey?
Dolly somewhat addressed this rumor back in 2014 when she told Vanity Fair that she does have a few small tattoos that the public isn’t able to see but in general, she’s not a big fan of ink. So no, she’s not hiding two half-sleeves under that rhinestone covered blazer. According to her, the only tats she has covered up scars that she has. Nothing substantial enough to write home about.
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And keep watching to find out if Dolly ever cheated on her husband with Kenny Rogers? We’ll get to that in a second so just hold your horses.
Does She Regret Not Having Kids?
Seeing as she and her husband have been married for over 5 decades now, some people speculate whether she regrets never having any children. She’s addressed her lack of offspring on multiple occasions and at no point has she ever indicated that it was something that she would have changed if she had the opportunity. She does admit that she’s a bit curious as to what her kids would have looked like if she had any – whether or not they bared her resemblance – but at the end of the day, it’s not really something she thinks about that often.
She further explained that God didn’t let her have kids so everybody else’s kids could be hers. Also, she loves looking after her little nieces and nephews and notes that it winds up being a better deal than if she had her own. Whenever she gets tired of them she simply calls up their parents, explains that they are driving her crazy and then she’s free once again.
“I’m a Great Aunt Granny” Dolly shared. That seems to be more than she could have ever asked for.
Dolly figures that she probably would have made a pretty marvelous mother but that life experience would have also drastically altered her path. In fact, if she did have kids, she would have probably had to surrender a substantial chunk of her professional life. If she ever had to leave her work behind or stop touring, she would have no-doubt felt remorseful.
Did She Secretly Have Kids?
There are those that say that Dolly probably regretted not having children but then there are those that take the gossip to the extreme by positing that she in fact did have kids – in secret. But if she did have children, then who’s the father? And where are they now?
One version of the rumor says that she actually procreated with Elvis Presley. Can you imagine it? The King and Queen getting together and making little musical royalty offspring? That would have been something.
Other stories accused the leading lady of country of birthing Burt Reynold’s child. Despite these rumors being completely baseless, Dolly has been a good sport about all of it. She shared a story once about her husband Dean looking at a photo of her and her dog and asking her if it was Burt Reynold’s baby.
Dolly has been in the public eye for half a century now. She knows full well that the media and the public will always have something to say about her. The best way that she knows to deal with that is by taking in stride with a little tongue-in-cheek sass. And we think that approach has worked out just fine for her.
Is Dolly A Cheater?
One of the most common tidbits of gossip lodged Dolly’s way is that she has been somehow unfaithful to her devoted husband. These rumors might be fueled by the fact that Dolly regulatory works with men and has a very outgoing personality.
Well, what does Dolly have to say about this particularly juicy piece of gossip?
“I’ve been accused of being involved with every man I’m ever seen with or worked with,” she Told ABC news a few years back. “Maybe I have, maybe I ain’t. I never tell if I have. But you know people always saying that.”
Was Jolene Written About Her Cheating Husband?
Even if you aren’t the biggest country music fan, chances are you’ve heard that classic Dolly Parton banger “Jolene”. It’s one of the most popular country songs of all time and one that Dolly routinely plays on tour.
But who was Jolene? Was she somebody that Dolly’s husband was going behind her back to see when she wasn’t around or is she purely a piece of fictional artistic expression?
Well, turns out there was a real Jolene but she definitely wasn’t sleeping around with Dolly’s man. According to Parton the song was inspired by an inside joke between Dean and her. There was this redheaded bank teller that always showed her husband extra notice every time he showed up to make a deposit. He liked going to that particular bank because he knew she’d pay him extra attention. Her name was Jolene, and what started off as a playful running joke between the couple eventually resulted in a hit song that she would be playing for decades.
Does Dolly Really Have Stomach Cancer?
In 2015, rumors began to swirl in the pages of newspapers and tabloids that claimed that Dolly was suffering from stomach cancer. As time went on the rumor mill only pumped out more and supposed details about her health battle. Her fan base was devastated and stunned by the news.
Eventually, Dolly had to publicly address these rumors. She stated that there was absolutely no truth in the claims that she had cancer and that in fact, she was suffering from a completely unrelated gastrointestinal issue. As it turns out, Parton actually had kidney stones.
Did She Have A Thing With Kenny Rogers?
Seeing as the two country legends have recorded several tunes with each other and seem to have undeniable chemistry, many people and media outlets have made the assumption that they had some kind of romance going at some point. But is this true?
Both Dolly and Kenny have addressed these rumors separately. Rogers joked around by saying that he is a firm believer in keeping the tension going instead of satisfying it – but secondly, Dolly told him no.
Parton explained that they very easily could have gone down a more romantic path but to her, Kenny was always like a brother. Despite both stars denying that they had a thing between them, a lot of people still think that they had some kind of blossoming romance for a time. Who knows? All we do know is that Dolly would probably tell those people that they need to mind their own business.
Anyways, we’d love to hear from you? Do you buy Dolly and Kenny’s story or do you think that they secretly had a steamy fling? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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