Dolly Parton had some cheeky advice for her niece Jada Star on Claim To Fame.
Dolly Parton had some advice for niece Jada Star
The niece of the late country icon asked for her blessing before appearing on ABC’s reality competition series, which featured contents each with a famous relative in a secluded house as they try to figure out who each other is related to.
Jada, who appeared on season two of the show in 2023, told Extra: “I went to her first. I said, ‘Is it okay if I do this?’ And she said, ‘Absolutely. It’s okay.’
“She said, ‘Go out there. Don’t show your butt.’ And she said, ‘Keep your room clean.’
“I was surprised as everyone else when she showed up and so those tears were quite genuine.”
The show ran for three seasons from 2022 to 2024, and was hosted by brothers Kevin and Frankie Jonas.
Dolly passed away last week aged 80, and her niece reflected on how the 9 to 5 legend would want her family to act.
She said: “I can’t remember a life without her. She would also tell us to start drying it up and start trying to get back to work and love each other real hard. She was just a trip.”
After her death, Dolly’s family paid tribute to her at the iconic Grand Ole Opry, and Jada admitted there was “not a dry eye in the house”.
She added: “I hope that she would have been real proud. She knows that I was a chicken.
“She had a different set of advice for every single person on the earth… For me, my advice I frequently got was, ‘Why are you worried about what other people think?’
“So I just thought of that when I was out there.”
Dolly’s passing was announced in a video message from her nephew-and-head of security, Bryan Seaver, shared on her Instagram account on August 25.
He said: “My name is Bryan Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and I’m representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the passing of my aunt, Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, Sister, Sis and Granny to one generation and Gigi to the next.
“This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years ago, before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.
“As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven’t truly felt it until now.
“It is an honour, an honour that is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness. But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl, her parents and countless others who have watched her and longed to meet her in the heavens.”
Three days after her death, Dolly’s family gathered for an intimate funeral at Nashville’s Woodlawn Memorial Park and Mausoleum, where she rests beside her husband Carl Dean, who died in March 2025 aged 82.
