Does Dolly Parton Have Plastic Surgery Regrets? Here's What She's Said

A lot of gaslighting goes on in Hollywood, especially around the ins and outs of suspected nips and tucks — some celebs are committed to sticking to the PR script despite their obvious transformations. But it has gotten generally less taboo to discuss going under the knife. There are a number of celebrities who have opened up about their plastic surgery experience, and Dolly Parton is one who was ahead of the trend. A spitfire since the '60s, the "Jolene" singer hasn't been afraid to admit that she didn't get it all from her mama. "If something is bagging, sagging or dragging, I'll tuck it, suck it, or pluck it," Parton told Saga magazine in a 2023 interview. Her transformation hasn't been subtle, and there are pics of Dolly Parton's thinner lips from the '70s out there that are wild to see.

But did the Tennessee diva get it all right, or does she have any plastic surgery regrets? Not many, it would seem. Though, in that same Saga conversation, Parton said that it's easy to overdo it with the Botox and filler. Sometimes, she said, she's experienced swelling that takes a while to go down and "look normal again." She added, "It means that instead of being back at work in two weeks, it's a month." Parton also noted that sometimes injectables and other procedures can cause a minor hematoma, a collection of blood that pools and clots underneath the skin.

In 2025, exclusively for Glam, a board-certified plastic surgeon broke down how Dolly Parton's face has changed over the years. Based in Hilton Head, South Carolina, Dr. Frederick Weniger clocked signs of a facelift pointing to the change in Parton's face shape. "Early on, Dolly's look featured strong cheekbones and a rounded facial structure," he told us. "But over time, her mid-face appears more lifted and her skin exceptionally taut, which may point to a facelift to maintain definition and prevent sagging."

Parton has never claimed to be going for the natural, barely-there vibe, instead opting for maintenance and then some. She seems to have learned long ago that people will buy it if you sell it. The "9 to 5" singer described her look as "kind of trashy" in an essay she penned for Allure in 2021. "It was the country girl's idea of glam — the backwoods Barbie," she wrote. In that same essay, Parton also detailed her refusal to relinquish her signature high-octane showbiz look and aura or be anything that you could ever hit with a little-old-lady label. She wrote, "When you're a cartoon kind of character like me you never really know if that person's old or young ... I'll do what's best for me, as everybody should."