Nobody does Dolly Parton better than Dolly Parton, right?
Well, it turns out it depends on who you ask!
The legendary singer appeared on the Elvis Duran and the Morning Show May 22. While there, she told the hilarious story of the time her hairdresser convinced her to enter a “Dolly Parton Lookalike Contest.” And get this, she LOST!
Dolly Parton’s Hairdresser Drags Her to a Drag Show
While Dolly Parton losing a Dolly Parton Lookalike Contest may sound like an urban legend, Dolly confirmed to Elvis Duran that it really happened.
The pair were talking about Dolly’s Broadway show, “Dolly: An Original Musical.” The show is currently previewing in Nashville before moving to New York City in 2026. Duran pointed out, “You know, this is not a new thing, people pretending to be Dolly.” Duran said his favorite are the “Dolly drag queens,” who have long been known for dressing as Parton.
“I get a kick out of those drag queens,” Dolly replied. “These guys get dressed up they’re already six feet tall. And then they put on the high heels! But it’s funny. People always say ‘I can’t believe you talk about the drag queens.’ And I always say ‘look, I don’t care what they’re draggin’ as long as they drag it to my show!'”
When asked whether it’s true that Parton once entered a lookalike contest and lost, Dolly laughed and exclaimed, “It’s true!” She then told the story, saying, “That was years ago when my little gay hairdresser at the time lived up there near Santa Monica Boulevard where a lot of the gays hang out. And every Halloween, of course, they all dress up. So he said, ‘well, let’s go down.’ And he’s like, ‘they give free drinks for, you know, for the people that participate.’ So, they would just walk them across the stage. And whoever got the most applause, you know, got free drinks for the rest of the night or whatever.”
Dolly went on, “So, he talked me into just kind of over exaggerating myself, if that’s possible. You know, bigger beauty mark, bigger hair, bigger whatever. So — all these big drag queens (are) going across the stage as Dolly. And then I walked across the stage, you know, just traipsing across. … Nobody applauded, like a little trickle that was probably David, my hairdresser. But we laughed so hard. So I always told the story that I entered a Dolly lookalike contest and lost.”
A Good Dolly Is Hard to Find
Dolly Parton told Duran that finding someone to become her isn’t as easy as it sounds.
She talked about the casting process for her new musical. Dolly said after putting out a casting call, they flew 48 people to New York City to audition for parts. That included “a little Dolly, a middle Dolly and then the older Dolly that kinda carries the story, narrates the story in a way.”
“We’ve got a wonderful cast and I’m really looking forward to seeing it myself,” she told Duran. “We’ve worked so hard for so many years on it. And all the cast from New York came down [to Nashville] to work the show up because my husband Carl was ill and I would not go out of town. So I stayed here so we started working it here. We thought ‘well, we’ll just go ahead and do the whole premiere here’ since this is my second home in Nashville. So I’m excited about the fact that it is going to premiere here.”
Dolly Talks About Dopplegangers
Elvis Duran Show cohost Medha Gandhi asked Dolly, “Is it bizarre to you ever to watch all these people pretend to be you in front of you?”
“Very!” replied Dolly laughing, “very bizarre. And it’s very emotional. It just takes you on such an emotional journey. Just seeing your life done like that and seeing different people playing you. Of course, it’s always hard.” But Dolly says the three actresses cast to play her are “so wonderful and do such a great job.”
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Dolly Parton’s Hilarious Loss in Lookalike Contest