Dolly Parton’s rarely seen husband of 55 years and her chance reunion with real Jolene
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Dolly Parton’s ‘homebody’ husband Carl has shied away from showbiz and forged his own career despite his wife’s millions - and Dolly recently bumped into the flirty bank clerk who inspired her song Jolene, though the name actually came from an eight-year-old fan
Dolly Parton’s rarely seen husband of 55 years and her chance reunion with real Jolene
Jolene is one of Dolly Parton’s most famous songs, as the country crooner begs a mysterious red-headed woman not to “take her man”.
And it was based on a true story - Dolly has previously explained Jolene was a real clerk at a bank near to where Dolly and her husband Carl Dean lived.
She was very flirty with Carl, and a furious Dolly penned the song that would make her millions - before banning her husband from visiting that branch.
“A lot of my songs are based on some truth and Jolene was about a girl that was flirting with my husband back then,” she once explained.
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Image: @dollyparton) @dollyparton) Image: Dolly Parton) Dolly Parton)
“She was working down at the bank and he was spending a little more time down there than he should. So I put a stop to that!
“I wrote the song about Jolene and I did a lot of banking after that, but not with her bank.”
But despite having been married to Carl for 55 years, the ghost of Jolene still lingers - with Dolly admitting she still checks his personal items for any signs of contact between him and her love rival.
Dolly, who turns 76 on Wednesday, told The Sun: “I was looking through his address book the night before we renewed our vows.
“I thought, I’m gonna see if he’s still got Jolene’s number.”
And since then she’s actually run into the woman herself, joking that the experience helped heal all her longtime insecurities.
Image: Splash) Splash)
“Just so you know, I did see the actual Jolene not long ago. She’s not so hot now,” Dolly said on US TV.
“She used to have that beautiful red hair, and now she’s grey. She used to have a little tight butt. Now, it’s a tight spot getting her butt through that door now.”
Laughing, she added: “She used to wear a D-cup - now she’s wearing Depends.”
As for Carl, the singer has quipped that if Jolene still wants her ageing husband, she’s welcome to him.
“Every time I look at him sleeping over there in his La-Z-Boy, snoring, that hair turning grey at the temples, I wonder if Jolene is still around. I’ll call her up and say, ‘You come and get him now!’” she teased.
But the truth is, Dolly and Carl are dedicated to each other, and she likely never had anything to worry about.
Image: Dolly Parton Twitter) Dolly Parton Twitter) Image: Dolly Parton/Instagram) Dolly Parton/Instagram)
In fact, Carl has said he knew he wanted to marry Dolly the moment he met her in a not-so-glamorous setting.
They first laid eyes on each other outside a laundromat in Nashville in 1964, and it was love at first sight for Carl.
“My first thought was I’m going to marry that girl,” Carl once said of the meeting.
“My second was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’ And that was the day my life began.”
Carl, then 21, caught her attention by joking that she was going to get sunburn in her revealing outfit.
The pair married two years later in a small ceremony in Ringgold, Georgia in 1966, with only Dolly’s mother as a witness.
Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images) Popperfoto via Getty Images)
Dolly’s music career was soon to take off as she signed with Monument Records soon after, going on to sell more than 100 million records worldwide.
But fame wasn’t something Carl wanted or enjoyed, and he instead chose to live a quiet life on their sprawling farm, running a paving firm until his recent retirement.
“Listen, he’s a homebody and doesn’t like to go out in public,” Dolly previously told The Mirror.
“We have a farm and he’s more than happy keeping the fields mowed, the barns painted and working away on his farm equipment.”
In fact, the singer describes her husband as a “loner”.
“He doesn’t particularly care about being around anybody but me. He’s just always asked me to leave him out of all this. He does not like all the hullabaloo,” she explained.
Image: Redferns via Getty Images) Redferns via Getty Images)
In an interview back in 1978, Dolly said her husband had “no desire to be in show business”.
“He don’t want to have his picture in the paper. He don’t want to go out to the supermarket and have people say, ‘That’s Dolly Parton’s husband,’” she said.
For his 79th birthday last year, Dolly famously recreated her legendary 1978 Playboy photoshoot for him, dressing up in a bunny outfit and framing a copy of the cover she graced.
Many people have tried to track the real Jolene down over the years - but Dolly has revealed she changed her name in the lyrics, making her even more elusive.
So where did she get the name Jolene from?
Dolly says it was actually from a child - an eight-year-old fan who asked her for an autograph after a show.
“She had this beautiful red hair, this beautiful skin, these beautiful green eyes, and she was looking up at me,” said Dolly.
“I said, ‘Well, you’re the prettiest little thing I ever saw. So what is your name?’ And she said, ‘Jolene’.
“And I said, ‘Jolene. Jolene. Jolene. Jolene… That is pretty. That sounds like a song. I’m going to write a song about that.’”
And Dolly laughed all the way to the bank - but not the one Jolene worked at.
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Dolly Parton looks unrecognizable with her REAL hair as she ditches signature big blonde wig in throwback photo
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DOLLY Parton looks unrecognizable with her REAL hair as she ditched her signature big blonde wig in a throwback photo.
The 76-year-old singer was praised for sharing a snap of her real hair in a resurfaced photo.
5 Dolly looks unrecognizable with her real hair Credit: Instagram/Dolly Parton
5 The singer is known for her signature big blonde wig Credit: Getty - Contributor
Back in February 2020, Dolly shared a black and white pic of herself in a recording booth on Instagram.
She stunned in a classic white sweater, though fans couldn’t help but notice that she showed off her much natural blonde hair in the photo.
The style is much tamer than the large and over-the-top blonde wig she usually rocks, while the singer has also been known to sport bold outfits.
Alongside the photo, Dolly wrote: “Where the magic happens.”
PRAISE FOR DOLLY
While Dolly posted the photo on Instagram nearly two years ago, the snap recently resurfaced as many fans can’t believe how different she looks without her wig.
In the comments section, one fan wrote: “Love your real hair, Dolly!! Love you 4-ever!!”
Another added: “Love your natural hair Dolly. Beautiful!”
A third chimed in: “You look good with straight hair too.”
Others left red heart emojis, while numerous fans told the iconic singer that she’s “beautiful.”
RARE THROWBACK PHOTO
More recently, Dolly shared a rare throwback photo that featured her husband Carl Dean.
In the photo, which was posted to Twitter in November, Dolly wore a bright pink top, yellow pant, a matching belt and jewelry.
She held hands with her husband Carl, now 79, whose T-shirt was photoshopped into his wife’s recent merchandise release.
Dolly- whose birthday is on January 19- captioned her photo shared on Twitter: “Find you a partner who will support you like my Carl Dean does!”
Fans rushed to the comments to gush over how “handsome” the reclusive Carl appeared in the image.
“He is one tall drink of water,” one wrote with a heart-eyes emoji.
“OK Ms. Dolly, Carl Dean is also a cutie,” a second shared.
The photo is one of the few images the public has seen of Carl, as the businessman has chosen to stay out of the spotlight over the years.
LOVE STORY
Dolly met her husband on her very first day in Nashville when she was just 18 and Carl was 21.
The pair met outside their local laundromat in 1964.
“We actually met the first day I moved to Nashville,” Dolly previously told the TV talk show Home & Family.
“I was 18 years old, 1964. I had taken some dirty clothes in a rush to get to Nashville.
“I was down at the Wishy Washy laundromat. I had put my clothes in the laundry in this machine and I was all new in Nashville to stay,” she recalled.
“I was walking around on the street and this good looking guy drove by and he said something to me like ‘Hey, you gonna get sunburned out there,’ or something. I said ‘What’s it to you?’ or something like that.”
Dolly continued: “He pulled over and we started talking. I was actually babysitting at the time and so we talked. I told him where I was staying. I said ‘Well, you come by tomorrow and we’ll talk.’
“So he came by a couple of days, we sat out on the fire escape where I was babysitting the little boy and we had a first date.
“He took me home to his mama very first time.”
CARL’S CRUSH
Meanwhile, Carl knew that he and Dolly were going to spend their life together after seeing her for the first time.
“My first thought was I’m gonna marry that girl,” he said on Dolly’s official website.
“My second thought was, ‘Lord she’s good lookin.’ And that was the day my life began.”
The couple tied the knot two years later on May 30, 1966, in Ringgold, Georgia, shortly before Dolly released her first album.
5 Dolly has been known for rocking the big wig over the years Credit: Getty
5 Fans couldn’t believe how different she looked in the throwback photo Credit: Michael Ochs Archives - Getty
5 The singer recently shared a throwback photo with her husband Carl Credit: Twitter
76 fun facts about Dolly Parton to celebrate the country queen’s 76th birthday
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The Voice of Holland talent show hit by #MeToo scandal
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Dutch talent show The Voice of Holland has been taken off air in the Netherlands amid a sexual misconduct scandal
AMSTERDAM — Dutch talent show The Voice of Holland has been taken off air in the Netherlands amid a sexual misconduct scandal that has cast a shadow over the future of the TV ratings juggernaut in the country where it was first conceived by media mogul John de Mol.
The furor is one of the most serious #MeToo reckonings yet to hit the Dutch entertainment world and focuses on a show created in the Netherlands but broadcast in local versions around the globe.
It also draws in a family considered television royalty in the Netherlands — the original creator De Mol and his sister Linda, a television star in her own right in the Netherlands and Germany who split from The Voice of Holland’s pianist and band leader after he admitted sexual contact with some contestants.
The Dutch scandal erupted after a local broadcaster’s YouTube show called BOOS, the Dutch word for angry, contacted The Voice to say it has spoken to victims of “sexually transgressive behavior” and is planning a show about their allegations on Thursday.
Even Prime Minister Mark Rutte has weighed in.
“I think everybody is very shocked and it’s good that it is investigated,” he told Dutch daily De Telegraaf.
Dutch broadcaster RTL, which airs The Voice of Holland, reacted swiftly, saying over the weekend that it was suspending the show. It called the allegations “very serious and shocking” and said they weren’t known to RTL.
The show’s pianist and band leader, Jeroen Rietbergen, quit over the weekend and issued a statement acknowledging his actions.
“During my years of involvement with The Voice of Holland I had contact of a sexual nature with some women involved in the program and exchanged sexually tinted WhatsApp messages,” he said in a statement to the RTL Boulevard entertainment news show.
He went on to say that after initially considering the encounters “as reciprocal and equal” he later came to understand that the women “may have experienced this very differently. This insight has made me realize that my behavior has been completely wrong.”
His statement also suggested the show’s producers had known about his actions and cautioned him in the past. Rietbergen’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a call and email seeking comment.
Rietbergen’s partner, Linda de Mol, said in a statement on her website that she split from Rietbergen after the scandal broke and was taking a break from her own television career.
RTL said it contacted the show’s producer ITV Studios which agreed to “immediately initiate a diligent, independent investigation.” The Dutch broadcaster said in a statement that “Participants, employees, everyone must be able to work in complete safety. There is no room for interpretation in this. The priority now is to get the facts on the table.”
ITV Studios said in a statement: “Our highest priority is to provide a safe and supportive environment for everyone who participates in — or works on — our shows and ITV Studios has a zero-tolerance policy towards the type of behavior it is said to have taken place.”
The company said its investigation aims to “build a complete picture of what happened” and encouraged victims or witnesses to speak to the investigation.
Dutch singer Anouk said she was quitting as one of the show’s panelists, who first get to know contestants by listening to them “blind” from a swiveling chair facing away from the stage before going on to mentor them.
“I don’t want to work in a place where for years a number of men have abused their position and deliberately chose to keep it quiet and look the other way,” she said in a film on Instagram.
The Dutch public broadcast organization NPO also took action as a result of the scandal, sending a letter to public networks urging them to check if they have sufficient checks for misconduct.
“We treat everyone equally and respectfully,” the organization said Tuesday in a letter to the broadcasters. “Attention is paid to unequal power relationships and dependency relationships, where there may be an increased risk of undesirable transgressive behavior.”
The Rare Time Dolly Parton Ditched Her Wig and Makeup
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Celebrity life can be tough. There’s constant pressure to look good. Dolly Parton is known for her makeup and big hair, but there was a time when she decided to forego her usual look. Here’s what she said about the time she ditched her wig and makeup.
Dolly Parton reportedly sleeps in her makeup
Dolly Parton | Jason Kempin/Getty Images
During an interview with The New York Times, Parton revealed her morning routine. One thing she does each morning is take off her makeup. She explains that she sleeps with her makeup on just in case there’s an emergency. The country star wants to look her best in any situation.
“I clean my face in the mornings,” says Parton. “You never know if you’re going to wreck the bus, you never know if you’re going to be somewhere in a hotel and there’s going to be a fire. So, I leave my makeup on at night and clean my face in the morning.”
Parton told The Wall Street Journal that she prefers not to take off all her makeup for another reason. She says she wants to look nice for her husband, Carl Dean.
“I don’t like to go home and just tear down completely, because my poor husband has to look at me,” says Parton. “And in the morning when I get up I start all over again, put on my makeup and then touch it up through the day. I use a lot of Maybelline products, and I’ve used Max Factor’s Panstik makeup for all of my grown years; I have to order it from different places because I can’t find it anymore.”
Dolly Parton ditched her wig and makeup
Parton went through a rough time after what she describes as an “affair of the heart” ended, and she became depressed. In 1986, she told Ladies’ Home Journal she understood how people could get to a point where they think about killing themselves. However, Parton decided to meet up with her friend, Judy Ogle, and go on a trip.
Parton and Ogle headed for Tennessee to spend time with her family. According to the publication, during times like this, Parton would take a ride in her camper without any makeup or her signature wig. She and Ogle would drive to her hideaway in Hemet, California. Parton used the time during her getaway to swim, play her guitar, write songs, and read.
Dolly Parton wanted to look like the town prostitute
Parton thought the prostitute in her hometown was beautiful. Some people looked down on her, but Parton was in awe of the woman’s beauty. She says in her book, Dream More, she thought the town prostitute was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. “I often tell the story of how I thought the most beautiful woman in the county was the woman most people called trash,” says Parton in her book.
Parton was impressed by the prostitute’s over-the-top outfits and her manicured nails. The country singer wanted to look just like the prostitute. Says Parton, “In my eyes—with her big dyed hair, her bright red nails, her feet squeezed tight into her high-heel shoes, and all her paint and perfume—she was just perfect.”
RELATED: Dolly Parton’s Wigs Have a Hidden Compartment for Her Microphone Pack, According to Talk Show Host
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