Although Dolly Parton has been 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 every
once in a while.
Dolly has had many 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 was Johnny Cash, and she has subsequently had 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 has been married to 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 met, the two were married only two years later.
Their relationship started when Dolly was just beginning her career in the entertainment
industry, though Carl has preferred to keep out of the spotlight in the decades since
Dolly attained 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 towards each other’s differences and needs.
In Carl’s case, this means that 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 too much of a fuss if Dolly develops
feelings while at work.
Given Dolly’s decades-long career in the entertainment industry, it stands to reason
that she’s brushed shoulders with some pretty attractive and charismatic men.
While many men in Carl’s position would find themselves being constantly jealous of
this constant competition, his cool head when it comes to these matters is arguably what
has allowed him to keep Dolly as his wife for so many years.
Dolly has openly talked about having many celebrity crushes over the years, with her
most recent one being Jimmy Fallon.
Of course, Jimmy Fallon is the late-night talk show host that went on to replace Jay
Leno after things fell through with Conan O'Brien.
Dolly has always had a great rapport with late-night talk show hosts, having previously
had memorable on-screen chemistry with both David Letterman and Johnny Carson.
Although Jimmy Fallon is no David Letterman or Johnny Carson, he seems to be 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 has come under fire in recent years for some drunken and 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 apparently liked his incredibly frail figure at the time, not realizing that this
figure was actually the result of the singer’s malnutrition from substance abuse.
When Dolly ended up working more with Johnny after becoming famous, the two would often
share a laugh about how Dolly used to be 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 wasn’t until her adult years that she would finally come clean 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 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 may develop while out on the road, it becomes clear that her
heart truly belongs to Carl whenever she returns home.
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Around the same time that Dolly Parton married husband Carl Thomas Dean, she also met another
man that would become one of the big loves of her life.
This man was Porter Wagoner, a popular singer in the country music scene that was also the
host of The Porter Wagoner Show.
During her early career, Porter noticed Dolly while she was diligently performing around
the Nashville area.
She had already found some modest success by that point, with her song “Dumb Blonde”
having broken onto the country charts.
In addition to being a performer during the early years of her career, Dolly also began
making a name for herself as a songwriter whose songs were often 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 office 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.
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