Reporter Corners Dolly Parton About Rumor That She’s Hiding Tattoos Under Long Sleeves

One of the biggest mysteries surrounding Dolly Parton has to do with her tattoos. The “Jolene” singer has confirmed that she has tattoos, but has remained mum when it comes to details of how many and where she has been inked.

Further fueling speculation about her tattoos is the fact that Dolly is never seen without long sleeves on. Her choice to cover her arms, and often her hands, has led people to believe that she may be hiding arms covered in tattoos.

Dolly appeared on a recent episode of Person to Person with Norah O’Donnell and the host broached the topic of the singer’s forearms. O’Donnell started the conversation by reading a statement to the singer in which the author states that nobody knows what Dolly Parton’s forearms look like.

“That’s not true!” Dolly said, referencing some photos of her younger self that she included in her new book, Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones.

She further explained, “I’m very fair and I don’t lay in the sun. I just don’t like my arms to show.”

The host pushed for specifics by asking Dolly to put the rumors to rest that her forearms are covered in tattoos.

“Well, I have a few tattoos, but it’s mostly to cover some scars and some things that I have…but not on my forearms,” Dolly said, following with a statement that made it clear she wasn’t going to give all of the details about her ink.

“My tattoos are personal and for reasons. But, I’m not a biker chick under there. I don’t like my arms to show,” she said.

The host, clearly unwilling to let the subject go, once again asked the 77-year-old legend specifically if she had a tattoo sleeve “under there.”

“I have a few little things, but not like what you’re saying. I have a few bows right in here,” she said as she pointed to her shoulders. “But, that’s not why I don’t show my arms.”

In 2021, Dolly elaborated on her tattoos in an interview with W magazine.

The “Coat of Many Colors” singer told the outlet that she doesn’t have “heavy, dark tatoos,” instead opting for pastel ones.

“Most of my tattoos came because I’m very fair and I have a tendency to scar when I get any kind of cut,” she explained. “I’ve had surgeries for different things, and if the scars didn’t heal properly, I just gotta put tattoos to take the sting out.”

In 2017, she told E! News that tattoos are her way of making a negative into a positive. She said that her tasteful tats are “scattered here and there, where I need them, but they’re not the kind of thing to show on television usually. I can’t get naked, can I?”

She added, “My tattoos are pretty, they’re artful and they usually started out to cover some scar, not to make a big statement… I like to make positives out of negatives.”

Watch Dolly’s interview with Norah O’Donnell in the clip below.