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Miley Cyrus and Dolly Parton aren’t just like family — they are blood relatives

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus standing together in formal dresses in front of Christmas trees on a TV set
Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus have always had a bond. They just didn’t know it was a blood-relative bond until now.
(Katherine Bomboy / NBC)
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This makes perfect sense.

Miley Cyrus’ fiery godmother, Dolly Parton, is her seventh cousin, once removed.

The news was sprung on the country music legend during an interview with “Access Hollywood” about the cookbook she created with her sister, “Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals.”

Which sister? Not Willadeene, Stella or Cassie but one of the twins — not Freida but Rachel. Along with her five sisters, Parton also has six brothers. The family tree is so large it rivals General Sherman.

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“Is that true?! That’s amazin’!,” Parton said when presented with the Ancestry.com findings about her link to Cyrus.

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Cyrus and Parton’s mutual ancestor, John Brickey, lived in Tennessee’s Blunt County not far from where Dollywood is today, Access Hollywood revealed.

Parton said she wasn’t surprised, because Cyrus had always felt like family (Cyrus and scores of others).

“I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of that,” Parton said.

Half a century after release, the country star’s song based loosely on a flirtation between her husband and a bank teller is Parton’s most covered creation.

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Cyrus has often praised her godmother. She told W magazine in a June interview, “Dolly’s been like a mother to me.” She noted that Parton sent her a fax two Mother’s Days ago. (Why a fax? Because: 78 years old.)

Cyrus, who doesn’t have a fax machine handy, said she has to pick up faxes at her lawyer’s office.

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Dolly’s message was: “How much do I love you? As much as my heart can hold and as far as my arms can reach.”

Which got Cyrus choked up — as it would anyone lucky enough to have a godmother with a heart as big as her hair.

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