Parton has been married to husband Carl Thomas Dean since 1966
Dolly Parton hits new milestone, encouraged to model
Actress and model Christie Brinkley cheers on Dolly Parton, telling her to consider modeling after Parton’s Dallas Cowboys performance and outfit.
Dolly Parton really went big and then went straight home after performing at the Dallas Cowboys halftime show this past Thanksgiving. The country legend made quite an entrance by donning the team's famous cheerleader outfit for her performance, only to board a private plane and head straight home once it was over.
Her iconic attire elicited an enormous reaction online; people stunned that Parton, 77, was rocking tiny shorts and a little bra top. She added a sequined, albeit transparent, bodysuit to her ensemble, for a little more coverage.
"I was doing it to be funny. Thought it might cute to do it since I'm there with all those Dallas cheerleaders. Of course, everyone always loves them. My husband as well," Parton told Page Six of her husband, Carl Thomas Dean.
ELLE KING BLASTED BY FANS FOR 'DISRESPECTFUL' DOLLY PARTON BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION PERFORMANCE
Dolly Parton admitted she was shocked by how much press she garnered by wearing the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader outfit during the halftime show on Thanksgiving. (Getty Images)
"I thought, ‘If I can, if I could pull this off, that’d be a cool little thing to do.’ And I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to give it a try,'" she explained. "I thought most people would excuse me if it didn't turn out. I thought they'd just think I was some older woman making a bad mistake. Or I thought, well, maybe it'd just be something cool to do."
"It turned out better than I thought it was going to. I just wanted to dress like the cheerleaders. Why not? I'm there!"
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The Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders could be seen dancing on the field during Dolly Parton's own performance. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)
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"I was thrilled to death that it got such press. I wasn't expecting all that, but I was pleased," she admitted. Parton says Dean, whom she's been married to since 1966, had a different reaction.
"He had seen it, and I did wear it for him," the "9 to 5" singer shared, explaining that she'd had fittings before the performance. "He'd say something like, ‘Well it’s a little short, don't you think?' I said, ‘No! It's not as short as theirs.' Or whatever."
Dolly Parton admitted that her husband Carl initially thought the outfit was "too short." (Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images)
She echoed these sentiments in a separate interview with People magazine, sharing a little quip she made to her husband after he inquired about the length of her outfit. "Jealous?" she asked him.
"He was just being funny," Parton clarified. "I think he thought – because everybody's making a to-do over it – he thought, well, maybe you shouldn't be showing your butt at that age. But anyway, he got a kick out of it too."
Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer. Story tips can be sent to
