Despite being a huge fan of the show, beloved country icon Dolly Parton refused to ever compete on “Dancing With the Stars.”
The “I Will Always Love You” artist even performed in the ballroom in 2007, but was not willing to put on her dancing shoes.
No Dancing for Dolly
Introduced by host Tom Bergeron, Dolly performed two songs, “9 to 5” and “Better Get to Livin'”, during the season 5 premiere in September 2007. Professional dancers like Derek Hough, sister Julianne Hough, Mark Ballas and Cheryl Burke performed while Dolly sang.
A number of Parton’s hits have been used throughout the years, including most recently when Julia Stiles and Ezra Sosa danced to “9 to 5” during the season 35 premiere.
“Yes, I’m very excited about being on ‘Dancing With The Stars,'” Parton told Variety ahead of the performance in 2007. “But I will NOT be dancing. But there will be dancing when I am singing ‘9 to 5.'”
Years later, while discussing her 2012 musical comedy, “Joyful Noise,” Parton revealed the real reason she would never compete on “Dancing With the Stars.”
“I did a few little slides and a few little things that were out of the ordinary for my fans to see, which they seemed to really enjoy and love! But that was the scariest and the worst part — me trying to dance!” she told The Boot in January 2012.
She added, “It was so hard for me to try to dance with these people that just jump out of the womb, hit the floor and go into a song and dance routine. Here I am just trying to keep up! So, that was the hard part.”
Parton admitted that producers had asked her to join the cast multiple times, but she said, “Oh, no!”
“They have tried to get me on that ever since it started, even before this movie, and I said, ‘ARE YOU INSANE?'” she laughed. “Nooo! I would be amazing all right, but not in the right way!”
Tributes to Dolly
Parton tragically passed away on August 25 at the age of 80. Her family later revealed that she suffered a brief battle with cancer before her death.
She was honored and remembered by many in the “Dancing With the Stars” family following her passing.
“I think we are all so inspired by Dolly. There is such an, authenticity is a word that gets thrown out so often, but with Dolly specifically, she never censored herself,” Julianne said during an interview with Good Morning America in September. “She was always true to who she was. That is what’s so important about this show too is connecting and being real and honest and vulnerable, and nobody does it better than Dolly.”
Julianne played Dolly in the 2019 Netflix anthology series “Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings,” and the two became very close.
“I remember, she called me. I was in my office … She wanted to have herself with me to say she would love for me to play Jolene. I remember just being in tears,” the actress told Extra in August 2026. “I’ll never forget it. We were talking between scenes and she always was like, ‘You know what? You remind me of myself. You always want to do all these different things … You have all these dreams and ambitions,’ and she’s like, ‘But just remember, always stay the artist that you are.'”
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Why Dolly Parton Said She’d Never Do ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Despite Appearing on the Show