Dolly Parton has always denied that her relationship with Porter Wagoner crossed the line into an affair. Still, she said they had an intense connection that people might misinterpret. They worked closely together for years, and she admitted it was difficult to explain their dynamic to others.

Dolly Parton said it wasn’t easy to explain the intricacies of her relationship with Porter Wagoner

Parton and Wagoner’s relationship was the subject of such pervasive rumors that some interviewers directly asked her if they were lovers.

“[W]e were lovers of music, and I suppose we had one of the world’s most unique relationships,” she told Alanna Nash in the book Dolly: The Biography. “We were not lovers as you know lovers. But it really wouldn’t have mattered whether we were or whether we weren’t. Like I say, it was a strange kind of relationship, hard to explain to the public. It was a love of its kind.”

She was well aware that people thought they were romantically involved. They weren’t, but she still found it hard to describe the intricacies of their relationship.

“Oh, I’ve heard people thought we were married and all that,” she said. “In fact, when we split our business, I mean, when I left the show, people would come up and say, ‘I really hated to hear about you and Porter gettin’ a divorce.’ But anyway, I don’t know how I could put our relationship into words.”

Dolly Parton could understand the speculation about her relationship with Porter Wagoner

Parton said she didn’t fault people who had misconceptions about the relationship. 

“I can understand how people could have made anything out of our relationship, because I think we were so involved in business, so involved with each other personally,” she said. “Porter had no family, and when we were workin’ — you live together on the road. All the boys in the group are like your family. You’re closer than you know. So close that you know each other’s moods, you know certain things that bug you.”

She admitted that she was so close with Wagoner that it began causing problems for them.

“It was almost like we depended on each other too much,” she said. “We were so involved in so many things that we had no separation from each, other. To the point where we would even resent each other bein’ involved in other things, mainly because we had ourselves tied so much into that.”

She said she had another relationship that was difficult to explain

Parton said people also misunderstood her relationship with her best friend, Judy Ogle. For years, people wondered if they were having an affair.

“Mine and Judy’s relationship is a relationship of its own kind,” she said. “It’s hard to explain. I have many relationships of that nature. Because if I love you, I’m always there. If I’ve loved you once, I’ll always love you. But with me’n Judy, it’s a rare thing to see people care that much about each other.”

She said they were so close because of all they had shared in their many years of friendship. 

“I can certainly see where that would be misunderstood,” she said. “Judy and me have been together since we were little children. We saw more sorrow and more hard times and hard work in our growin’ up days than you could ever put down on paper.”