The One Show's Alex Jones has shared an emotional tribute to Dolly Parton following the country music icon's death at the age of 80. Her family confirmed the heartbreaking news on Tuesday night, 25 August. Parton was celebrated for her groundbreaking hits including 9 To 5, I Will Always Love You and Jolene. The singer had cancelled her Las Vegas residency and withdrawn from fan events owing to ill health.
Emotional tribute on the show
During Wednesday's episode, presenters Clara Amfo and JB Gill delivered an emotional tribute to the programme's 'big friend', featuring a compilation of archive footage and previous performances, alongside interviews, on the BBC One show. After the touching video compilation, Alex Jones, who had spoken with Parton on numerous occasions throughout the years, recorded her own video message honouring the musical icon.
Jones, who is presently on holiday and filmed her message while away, said: "We heard last night, of course, about lovely Dolly, and it honestly shook me to my core."
"Dolly, as you will know, we've been talking a lot about favourite guests because of the 20th anniversary, and Dolly was hands down my absolute favourite. So strong, but so soft. So lovely, but feisty at the same time. The absolute embodiment of every woman. It was such a treat to have her on every single time and the world will be a dimmer place without her."
Jones's previous praise for Parton
It comes as Jones recently praised Parton while celebrating The One Show's 20th anniversary. She said: "I'm not naturally a person who gets starstruck, which I think is just as well because otherwise, I'm not sure I could do this job because the calibre of guests we get is outstanding. It's been people like Dolly Parton that make me go 'wow.' I just absolutely love Dolly and admire her so much. Her longevity and her way of staying relevant is remarkable."
"She's as nice as you'd want her to be too. I think that always wins me over when someone is even nicer in the flesh than you had hoped."
The One Show airs on weeknights at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
