Dolly Parton is once again dismissing rumours she is living a secret gay life.
The Jolene hitmaker has long been rumoured to be in a relationship with her childhood friend Judy Ogle, but she insists the reports are not true.
"So people say that - because you can't really have a great relationship with a woman," she tells The Sun newspaper. "I'm not gay but I have so many gay friends and I accept everybody for who they are."
"People love to talk, people love to gossip," she adds. "They've said that about Oprah (and her best friend Gayle King), but it's not true. Judy and I have been best friends for 64 years, since we were little kids. Our parents knew each other, we grew up together, we were like sisters, became best friends. She was very quiet, I was very outgoing. So we made perfect friends.
"We went all through school together. She went to the Army when we graduated because she needed the insurance and she needed to help her family and I was trying to make it (as a singer). As soon as she got out, she came to Nashville and we've been together ever since."
Dolly insists the rumours don't bother her, but she likes to make sure they don't upset her husband, Carl Dean, and the other people in her life.
"People love to talk but sometimes that's your best publicity," she says. "I don't care what they say as long as they don't hurt other people I love."
Parton has been married to her husband since 1966, but the couple is rarely seen in public.
