Whenever I tell people what I do for a living, most of them will laugh and then make some lame joke that I've heard a thousand times before, such as, "Did your man run off with Jolene, then?" I look and sound very similar to Dolly Parton, although I'm not American. Her fame has rubbed off on me – I've made a career out of being her lookalike for many years now.

Many people assume I have her confident personality, too, which I don't. In fact, I'm rather shy. But I do dress similarly to her and they talk to me as if they're talking to her. Men try to flirt, even in front of my husband and children. It's strange. People know I'm not her, but they treat me as if I was. They make it quite clear they don't want to know the real me, which can hurt.

I have had people befriending me, only to discover later they want me to perform for free at some school fete or birthday do. Some people are star-struck and others tongue-tied in my presence, even though I insist I'm not her. My GP sat and stared open-mouthed at me once when I was asking for some pretty important test results. Someone started taking pictures of me when I went on a family holiday last year.

I love performing as Dolly, but we couldn't be more different. I do end-of-pier shows where half the audience are paralytic and the others are bored children pushing toys across the floor. That was how she started out, maybe, but it's my life. That's the lot of the lookalike.

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