Dolly Parton always knew how to "push" men away if she needed to.
Dolly Parton has had to push men away at certain point s in her career
The 77-year-old country music legend explained that early on in her career if she had what she believed was a lucrative idea she just had to learn how to "manoeuvre" her way round a room full of men as she insisted that she "never slept" her way to the top.
She told The Guardian: "I would just say, ‘I think I have something that we can all make some money off of, and get over the fact that I’m a girl here, because my mind is on something else. I always knew how to manoeuvre in a crowd of men. I never slept with anybody to get ahead, because to me it wouldn’t be worth it.
"That don’t usually work in the long haul either. I always knew how to put a man in his place without making him feel bad. If sometimes that don’t work, I’m also strong as a boy – I know how to push you off and get the hell away from you."
The 'Jolene' legend - who has been married to Carl Thomas Dean since 1966 - went on to add that she has had to "fight" men off at some points in both her life and career and traces that back to her Tennesee roots but recalled that she was always able to remove herself from the situation before something "serious" happened.
She said: "I have [had to fight men off], but that goes back to being a country girl. And that’s a very uncomfortable situation. I was always able to get away before [a serious assault] would happen, but I feel sorry because some women are not able and some men are that aggressive."
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