Dolly Parton Admitted She and Porter Wagoner Ruined Their Relationship When They Started Fighting About Personal Matters
Dolly Parton’s career took off after she appeared on Porter Wagoner’s show, but her relationship with him eventually became a problem for her. Parton felt Wagoner was too controlling and stifled her career. She also wore herself out constantly fighting with him. While they were once close, Parton said their dynamic changed when they started bickering about personal matters.
Dolly Parton said talking about personal matters changed her relationship with Porter Wagoner
Parton joined Wagoner’s show as a singer in 1967. This gave her a broader audience, and her duets with Wagoner sold well. They had an easy, flirtatious rapport on the show that led many audience members to assume they were romantically involved. Parton said she loved Wagoner platonically, but this didn’t stop them from fighting often.
“We were good for each other in many ways and just a disaster for each other in a lot of ways,” Parton said in 1978, per the book Dolly on Dolly. “I’ll always love him in my own way.”
She said their relationship took a turn when they started bickering about their personal lives. The arguments grew more hurtful.
“We just got to where we argued and quarreled about personal things,” she said. “Things we had no business quarreling and arguing about. It was beginning to tarnish a really good relationship.”
Parton said they were both to blame for the arguments. They were both headstrong and ambitious, and had a burning desire to do things their own way.
“We didn’t get along very well, but no more his fault than mine,” she said. “We were just a lot alike. Both ambitious. I wanted to do things my way and he wanted to do things his way.”
Parton left his show in 1974 to pursue a solo career.
Dolly Parton admitted Porter Wagoner might have been in love with her
Some have speculated that Parton and Wagoner’s arguments turned personal because he loved her. Parton denied that anything ever happened between them.
“We were lovers,” she said, per the book Dolly by Alanna Nash. “Uh, we were lovers of music, and I suppose we had one of the world’s most unique relationships. We were not lovers as you know lovers.”
Still, she conceded that he might have had deeper feelings for her. She didn’t return them if he did, though.
“Maybe he was in love with me,” she said. “But it was a love of its kind. It was not a love that could ever be shared, if he was.”
She felt exhausted because of their constant disagreements
The relationship between Wagoner and Parton eventually soured to the point where she felt she needed to take a break after she left his show. She felt worn out.
“I just felt at that time I had been probably kicked around some,” she told Rolling Stone in 1977. “Not by my husband — he is the best person that ever lived. But you know, me and Porter, we just kind of said things, hurt each other’s feelings and, you know, trampled around on territory that was real sensitive, cut each other about songs.”
She felt as though she’d gone through battle with him.
“It’s just — I felt black and blue and I just wanted to heal back up and mend myself back together and get on with my life.”
Unfortunately, their relationship took a turn for the worse when he sued her. By the end of his life, though, they were on better terms.
