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16 Dec 2025 6:56
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Dolly Parton would find it "too hard" to be a judge on reality TV

    The 79-year-old country music legend has been asked numerous times to appear on the panel of shows like 'American Idol' and 'The Voice' but has always turned down the opportunity because she "can't hurt" the hopefuls who audition


    She told E! News: "I've been asked to do that a lot of times. It's too hard for me. That's why I don't accept it, because I know how sincere everybody is. Even if they're not that good, they believe they are. And I just can't hurt people."

    Outside of her mammoth music career, Dolly launched the Dollywood theme park in her native Tennessee in 1985, and just weeks after the major tourist attraction celebrated its 40th anniversary, she recalled worrying that no one would turn up.

    She said: "I thought, well, what if they don't? What am I going to do?

    "Then, I started seeing cars coming in, and I remember how exciting that feeling was when the parking lot filled up. Now it's filling up all the time. And 40 years later, we've got them still coming!"

    But the 'Jolene' hitmaker is "very proud" of her venture - which is the most-visited ticketed tourist attraction in Tennessee and hosts three million visitors every year - and loves how she has seen it grow and evolve over the course of the last four decades.

    She said: "I'm just very proud of all of it, because I've seen it grow. It's like having a house full of kids. Every time something new goes in, it's like, 'Oh, we got a new baby, we got a new kid in the family.' But it's an amazing park and it's catered to families. And so we're proud of that. I think I'm as proud of that as anything, that people want to come back."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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     Today's News

    Entertainment:
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    Entertainment:
    Nicholas Hoult was told that he would "go off the rails" after finding fame as a child actor 6:20

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    Environment:
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    Law and Order:
    Deaths of Rob Reiner and wife investigated as apparent homicide, LAPD says 4:37

    International:
    Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai found guilty of sedition and collusion 4:37

    Business:
    Potential for foreign buyers to push up property prices in wealthy hotspots 21:57

    Entertainment:
    Eric Dane will open up about his ALS battle and his career in a new memoir 21:50

    Entertainment:
    Zooey Deschanel has joked she's coming for Mariah Carey's title of the Queen of Christmas 21:20

    Law and Order:
    Police are canvassing a large area of Rotorua today after launching a homicide investigation into the death of a man on Friday evening 21:17


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