The One Show's Alex Jones has shared the moment she met Dolly Parton for the first time, admitting she was starstruck and completely in awe of the rare moment they shared. The Queen of Country died aged 80, her nephew Bryan Seaver confirmed on Instagram on August 25, 2026.
Alex Jones on meeting Dolly Parton
Just weeks before the star's death, Alex Jones was interviewed by TV and Radio star Vernon Kay to celebrate 20 years of The One Show. In the podcast, Tracks of My Years, Alex recalled meeting the rhinestone-clad queen of country for the first time.
Alex told Vernon: "People ask very often who's your favourite guest? And that is a difficult question, isn't it? But I think Dolly Parton stands out. I was very new. One of the producers who worked on The One Show then said, do you want to come and say hi to Dolly? She's here early."
Dolly Parton without makeup
Alex said: "And I said, all right then. So I went in and said, oh, hi, Dolly. I'm Alex. I'll be asking you some questions later. And she was like, come and sit. And she had no makeup on. So it was before she'd become Dolly. She's very open in the fact that she wears a lot of wigs. And so her hair wasn't done. She was bare faced, still absolutely striking, so beautiful."
Alex continued: "I've never, ever come across a person so comfortable in their own skin. And she started Dolly-fying in front of me as we were chatting, and we chatted about all sorts of things, what she was going to do in the UK, how long I'd been doing the show, was I nervous, how she deals with nerves, all of this. And in front of me, she transformed into Dolly. And I thought, how special that? We all know her as this vivacious, very made up, beautiful woman. But actually, she was equally striking and equally impressive because she is just a nice person. In her heart, she's just gorgeous."
Vernon replied: "Alex, I bet there's very few people who've experienced that. Because from a lady's perspective, that's a private moment."
Alex said: "It is a private moment. And I can honestly hand to my heart say that if I didn't know somebody well, I wouldn't be that comfortable with going through that process while we're chatting. But she knows who she is. And she is just very, very at ease with herself. And I thought, how amazing to be that self-confident, but in a lovely way."
Tributes and final wishes
A clip of the interview was shared on TikTok by BBC Radio 2, with dozens of people commenting to share their own thoughts about Dolly. One person said: "Dolly was literally an angel. So lovely that nobody is saying a bad word about her, if only we could all be a bit more Dolly."
A second said: "Jane Fonda noted that her and Dolly are very close, but she's never seen Dolly out of makeup and wig. This is actually a really special moment." A third said: "In Tennessee, I can't tell you in words how proud we all are of Dolly. We all beam when we speak of her. She's a Tennessee gem."
Dolly Parton died after being diagnosed with cancer, her team confirmed soon after the announcement of her death. In her final interview, released on August 21 with People, Dolly shared that she ignored her health issues while looking after her husband Carl, who died in 2025. She told the magazine: "As I've shared in video messages throughout the past year, I am dealing with some health issues that I just didn't pay attention to when I was watching over Carl. It's not like I haven't been through hard times with my health."
In a video message planned by the singer, Bryan followed her wishes by announcing the sad news. He said: "Dolly called me and said she wants to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton, because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest."
Dolly's team said that at her request "a small, private service will be held for immediate family" and that fans could make donations to her charitable Imagination Library in her memory.
