Many of the children in Dolly Parton’s family have grown up, but they still expect her to embrace one elaborate Christmas tradition. During an interview with Good Housekeeping UK, the country icon, 78, revealed that she dresses up as Granny Claus every Christmas. The tradition goes beyond donning the costume, though. While in costume, Dolly even goes down the chimney with a sack full of gifts for her loved ones.
Dolly Parton doesn’t have any kids of her own, but she has lots of nieces and nephews (and grand nieces and nephews) who are a part of her life and her Christmas traditions. She explained to Good Housekeeping UK that they look forward to her dressing up as Granny Claus every Christmas.
“Every year, I play Granny Claus — I get in my Santa Claus suit and I come down the chimney with my sack full of presents,” Dolly told the publication.
Dolly is now 78 years old. She joked that she’ll be “hobbling” and her loved ones will still be expecting her to dress up as Granny Claus. “Even though a lot of the children are grown up now, they still expect me to do it,” she said. “One day, I’ll be hobbling in that elevator!”
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While it might seem like an elaborate stunt that requires a lot of work, Dolly has a reason for doing it — she simply wants to make her loved ones happy.
“I have all the nieces and nephews and all the grand-nieces and nephews, and all the little kids of the people who work for me, so I’ve kind of adopted a bunch of people,” she explained to Good Housekeeping UK. “And I’ll do whatever I can to put a smile on their faces.”
Dolly’s Granny Claus costume is just one example of how committed she is to spreading joy during the holiday season. When it comes to Christmas decor, Dolly likes to go all out. While she keeps passersby and tourists in mind when decorating the outside of her house, she decorates the inside of her house according to her own taste, regardless of how tacky the decor might be.
“Tourists come round and look at the outside of my house, so for their sake, it’s a bit less tacky out there, but inside I can tacky it up any way I please!” she explained to Good Housekeeping UK. “I have Christmas trees in all the rooms, everything has lights on — and then we add more lights, and then more lights.”
Dolly starts preparing for her favorite Christmas festivities in November. “I have my house and my yard decorated, I put a cross on top of the chapel, and on the night of Thanksgiving, I flick the switch and it all goes on,” she said.
She doesn’t stop at decorating her house with Christmas lights — she also wears them. “I have Christmas lights in my hair — I have them everywhere,” she said during the interview. “I wear earrings that light up, a reindeer necklace that lights up, I wear sweaters with Christmas lights on — you push a button and I light up!”
Last December, Dolly wrote about her love for Christmas attire on Instagram. “I’m always in costume at Christmas,” she wrote. “If I’m not in a Santa suit, I wear reds and greens. I wear sweaters with Christmas lights on them where I push a button and I light up.”
