Rob Brydon regrets skipping Dolly Parton interview — SkimNews
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- Rob Brydon said he "sort of regret[s] it now" after declining to return to the US to interview Dolly Parton during filming of BBC documentary Honky Tonk Road Trip, choosing instead to remain on a family holiday in Arizona.
- Dolly Parton died peacefully in a Nashville hospital on 25 August after a brief battle with cancer, having been admitted four days earlier with kidney and autoimmune issues — meaning Brydon never got to meet her.
- Brydon announced his debut children's book The Cat in The Cupboard will be published on 10 September, aimed at children aged 5-7 and told entirely in rhyme.
- The book follows a ginger cat named Crumble on garden adventures, inspired by stories Brydon invented for his own five children (aged 15-32) about the family's cat entering through a cupboard when their cat flap was moved.
- BBC Radio Wales presenter Lucy Owen drew a parallel between Brydon encouraging children to pick up a book and Parton's Imagination Library, which delivers one free book per month to children from birth to age five — a connection Brydon told her "hadn't occurred to me".
- Brydon praised Gavin and Stacey co-writers Ruth Jones and James Corden's upcoming comedy The Choir, saying they share "a kind of magic when they write together," while confirming the cast remains active in a WhatsApp group that lit up recently for Alison Steadman's birthday.
Why it matters: Brydon's missed interview — offered because Parton's relatives had traced the Parton and Owens family lineage to Wales, linking the country-music legend directly to his homeland — underscores how a single holiday decision cost a BBC presenter a one-time opportunity with a global icon who died weeks later. His new rhyming children's book, published 10 September, also stakes out a new creative lane beyond comedy and acting for the Gavin and Stacey star.
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