Dolly Parton reacts to learning she and Miley Cyrus are actually related
Miley Cyrus has always shared a special bond with her godmother, Dolly Parton, but it turns out the duo is closer than they previously knew.
A new Ancestry.com report reveals that Cyrus and Parton are distant relatives — 7th cousins once removed, to be precise.
Published this week on the Ancestry.com website, the report breaks down how the singers are related. As it turns out, they share a "common ancestor from Tennessee" named John Brickey, who was Parton’s 6th great-grandfather and Cyrus’ 7th great-grandfather.
Born in 1740 in Virginia, Brickey later relocated to Tennessee with his wife and children and stayed there until he died in 1806.
“The Brickey family originated from France and the progenitor of the family came to the United States in the late 1600s,” the report reads.
Ancestry made the discovery by using the "billions of historical records and public family trees" in its records.
In an interview with Access Hollywood, Parton reacted to the revelation.
"Is that true? That's amazing," she said. "We're so close, Miley and I. You would've though we would've been at least third cousins. I'm sure she'll get a kick out of that. It doesn't surprise me because she does feel like family."
TODAY.com has reached out to Cyrus for comment.
Over the years, Parton and Cyrus have spoken at length about their special relationship. In 2023, Cyrus told W Magazine that Parton has "been like a mother" to her and described a fax message the country icon sent her a few years ago on Mother's Day.
“Dolly wrote to me to say: ‘How much do I love you? As much as my heart can hold and as far as my arms can reach,’” Cyrus said. “It gets me choked up. I just love her so much.”
In a tribute to Parton after she was named to Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2021, Cyrus described Parton as her "idol because of her incomparable career" and her "role model because of her steadfast morals and values.”
When Cyrus was starring on "Hannah Montana," her godmother made a few guest appearances on the show and played her aunt.
“I remember when she came in to do a table read for Hannah Montana in all her bedazzled glory,” Cyrus wrote in an essay for Time. “Her smell, the way her nails tapped the table, the sound it made when she flipped the pages of the script—I could see that she fascinated other people too. A living fantasy was in front of all of us.”
The singers also teamed up for a TV special called “Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party” in 2022. At the time, Cyrus spoke to TODAY about their bond.
“People are going to be affected by the show. There’s a chemistry, and a realness, and a love, and a connection that her and I have that I really feel,” she said.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
