GB News host Eamonn Holmes has recalled meeting “phenomenal” Dolly Parton, after the country music legend announced the death of her husband Carl Dean.
In a heartbreaking social media post, Parton told her fans: “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years.”
In a tribute on GB News, Breakfast host Eamonn Holmes shed light on the singer after revealing he had once met and interviewed the star.
GB News host Eamonn Holmes recalled meeting Dolly Parton following the news of her husband’s death
GB News / Getty
Eamonn told GB News viewers he was “lucky enough to interview her” and see her perform in concert.
Eamonn said of the passing of Carl Dean: “It’s very sad. What a talent Dolly Parton is. She relied on him a great deal, as a singer, as a songwriter, and as a composer.
“She’s just genius. I was lucky enough to go and see her in concert and to interview her.”
Ellie pressed Eamonn for more details, asking “what was she like?”
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The country music legend announced the death of husband Carl Dean on Instagram
Instagram / Dolly Parton
Eamonn said: “She is phenomenal. She is funny, she is clever, she looks like a star. When you’re in her presence, she’s a star.”
Ellie then interjected, claiming: “Apparently, she’s very humble as well? She’s not a diva?”
Eamonn agreed, responding: “She’ll play herself down as to her abilities and what she is, and she won’t big herself up.
“But she is true genius, there’s no doubt.”
Eamonn told GB News viewers that Dolly Parton is a ‘true genius’
GB News
In the statement announcing Dean’s death, it was revealed that he will be laid to rest in a “private ceremony” attended by immediate family.
Parton and Dean first met outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat on the day she moved to Nashville at age 18, and were married two years later.
The couple married on 30 May 1966 in a small wedding ceremony.
Their decades-long relationship remained primarily out of the public eye throughout Parton’s career, as she revealed in an interview he “doesn’t like” being in the limelight.