Dolly Parton recently revealed whether she would ever be a judge on popular reality singing competitions like American Idol or The Voice, and her answer just might surprise you.
In a recent interview with Taste of Country, the “Jolene” singer said she frequently turns down offers to judge both shows.
“I get asked every season to be on,” Parton told the outlet. “I really have trouble judging people. I would have a lot of trouble telling them yes or no – especially no,” she admitted. “Sometimes I will [be on] as a mentor or something like that. But yeah, I get offers all the time.”
And while Parton has turned down the opportunity to be on both shows because she doesn’t want to judge the contestants, she loves when they perform one of her songs.
“I love the fact that a lot of them do use different songs like ‘I Will Always Love You,’ ‘Jolene,’ or ‘9 to 5.’ I hear a lot of my songs on there,” Parton said. “That’s a great treat. I just always hate to see them lose, even though I’m very proud of the ones that win, and they deserve it because the public [votes] on that. But I just feel their little hearts. I hate it when they don’t win.”
As a result, Parton hopes to create her own singing competition on her own television network.
“I probably will do something like [‘American Idol’ or ‘The Voice’] in the future. I’m starting my own network. And so I’ll probably be doing different things at different times, and maybe create a show where it could be positive. Although those are fantastic shows, I love watching it. I would just have trouble being a judge of somebody’s talent,” she explained.
Though Parton has yet to provide a name or launch date for her network, she told Forbes her latest project is “something that’s coming up.”
“Well, I’m actually hoping to start my own network. That’s something that is coming up,” Parton shared. “I’m writing a cookbook with my sister Rachel, and doing a movie based on the novel that I wrote with James Patterson called ‘Run, Rose, Run.’ We’re doing that this summer, so there’s a whole lot of good things that I want to do, but I guess the network would be one of the things that I have not dabbled in of my own. I never know! I wake up with new dreams every day,” she added.
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Although Parton may not be ready to launch her own television network just yet, she’s got plenty of other ventures to keep her busy.
Back in September, the country music icon announced she’d be launching her own line of dog toys and apparel called “Doggy Parton” with SportPet Designs.
More recently, she shared that she’d be expanding her line of Duncan Hines products with four new baking mixes. The new products, which will be available at stores nationwide, include Dolly Parton’s Buttermilk Biscuit Mix, Dolly Parton’s Sweet Cornbread & Muffin Mix, Dolly Parton’s Fabulously Fudgy Brownie Mix, and Dolly Parton’s Caramel Turtle Brownie Mix.
Parton also previously created a special “Drive with Dolly” license plate that benefits her Imagination Library, which offers free books to children five years old and younger.
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