Not a lot of people know this, but I’m very good at… cooking. Country cooking mostly. I’m famous for it among my friends and family.

My best friend is… Judy Ogle. We’ve been best friends since we were in the third grade. We went all through high school together, took all the same classes together, shortly after I got moved to Nashville she came to live with me. She works with me still in wardrobe and as my personal assistant, and we’re just still best of friends. 

My nickname is… I have many. I’m known as GG to my little nieces and nephews, so I love that name.

The bravest thing I’ve ever done is… get into show business – and stay in it.

My favourite TV show is… Well, as I love forensics, I love all the forensics files on TV – all those shows where they can solve a whole case from a hair or a leaf, or something like that. I find that all so fascinating.

The best thing my parents taught me was… to thine own self be true and that through God all things are possible.

The last time I cried was… this weekend when I had my little nieces and nephews with me, I took them on a trip with me to perform. One of my little nephews, when I was just about to go on the stage, he said, “GG, you go out there and you do your best. Good luck on everything.”

I thought that was the sweetest thing that a tiny, little child would love me that much and care about how I felt and to wish me good luck instead of just thinking, “Oh, you’re the star.” He was really caring and hoping that I did good, and it was just sweet and it made a tear come to my eye. 

The first record I ever bought was… That’s a pretty good question. I remember I was pretty grown-up, I suppose, and it was a song called Hitchin’ A Ride. The first one I ever made was when I was 10 years old. It was called Puppy Love and it was a little song that I wrote with my uncle.

If I could pass any law I would… pass the law that people would be kinder to one another.

The shop I can’t walk past is… Oh, any kind of thing to do with food, whether it be candy, cookies, ice cream or pizza – I’m a hog.

The worst job I’ve ever done is… I’ve never really had many jobs outside of the music. It’s just always hard when you’re called on to do a job that you think is organised and you find out it’s not and you have to wind up not only entertaining but trying to put the show together as well, and do other people’s jobs as well as your own.

My favourite place in Britain is… all of Britain. I love all my fans there. I love all the people and I just enjoy it all the time. Of course, always when we come to London we love to see Buckingham Palace and do all of that. When I bring some of my family over, I take them on that tour that I’ve been on hundreds of times. I just love everything about the UK.

If I had half an hour left on Earth… Oh heavens, I’d probably panic like everybody else, so I’d be praying a lot: “Lord, let me get up there and please take me to heaven.”

But I don’t know, there’s a famous saying that I love, just to kind of calm down. Someone once said – not me and I don’t know who did – “If I knew that I would die tomorrow, I would plant my apple tree today.”

I would like to think that I would try to be kind and do something good, leave something behind and maybe either write a song and leave it behind, like he planted an apple tree. I like to think I’d do that but I guess I’d be like everybody else. So I’d probably be freaking out – wouldn’t you?

Dolly’s first ever children’s album I Believe In You is out now.

All proceeds go to her non-profit literacy organisation Imagination Library, which provides free books to children up to the age of five.