Garth Brooks and Dolly Parton worked together for the first time ever when they hosted the 2023 ACM Awards on May 11, and in a recent conversation with Kelly Clarkson on The Kelly Clarkson Show, Brooks shared a hilarious behind-the-scenes story about their hosting duties.
The first fact that blew Clarkson's mind during the interview was that Brooks was initially intimidated to work alongside the country legend. He told Clarkson, "[Dolly's] all of 4 foot 11, and she looks like she's 8 feet tall when you meet her." Brooks then told a hilarious story behind the promotional photo of himself and Parton that was used for the awards show.
In the photo, Brooks stands behind Parton, and they both appear to breaking out into genuine laughter. Brooks assures Clarkson that the laughter was in fact real, and he explains a funny photoshoot incident that broke the ice between of the two of them.
Brooks asks Clarkson to stand up so he can demonstrate, and he explains that Parton asked him to put his arms around the front of her for the photo.
"She turns like this, and then she grabs both of my hands tells me to place them here," he says, while somewhat putting his arms around Clarkson.
"Oh, you're going to prom!" Clarkson says of the pose.
"Oh, yeah, that wasn't what I was thinking," Brooks says of the awkward situation.
During the moment with Parton, Brooks says that after the country legend asked her to place his arms around her, he said, "No, I can't," and the two broke out into a big laugh.
After Brooks' explanation, Clarkson also laughed about the situation, pointing out the physical "differences" between herself and Parton.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a little difference between me and Dolly, so my mind didn't go there," she said. "God didn't bless this."
The two also chatted about the differences between Brooks and Parton, specifically the fact that Brooks was the more serious half of the hosting duo. The singer then told a story about another photoshoot the two did for the show, during which Parton broke out into multiple poses and Brooks was left wondering what to do for the camera.
"All it was just chins for days. It was horrible," he says of his posing skills. "But she was fabulous."
This story especially struck Clarkson as humorous, as she had the same experience with Blake Shelton when they did photoshoots for The Voice.
"He, literally, in every photo is like hands in pockets, very Oklahoma. It's amazing," she says of Shelton.
