Dolly Parton has been married for almost 60 years, and now the superstar has revealed the secrets to her long-lasting romance.
The hitmaker and her husband Carl Dean met at a laundromat in Nashville in 1964, and they tied the knot two years later.
Speaking on Zoe Ball’s Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Thursday, Dolly, 77, was clear as to why their marriage has endured.
‘We’ve been together 59 [years], we dated two years, and then we just celebrated our 57th anniversary on May the 30th,’ she told Zoe.
‘But I think so much of it is the fact that we are honest and open and we have a warped sense of humour!’
Love and marriage: Dolly Parton has been married for almost 60 years, and now the superstar has revealed the secrets to her long-lasting romance with Carl Dean
‘He is crazy, he is so funny and clever. And I have a great sense of humour from both sides of my family so I think the humour has always been good.’
She continued by saying a mutual ‘love and respect’ for one another has always been the bedrock of their romance.
‘There’s the respect and the love and I just like him!’
‘You know, I would have liked him if he wasn’t my husband, if he was somebody else’s husband I say, “You know that Carl Dean, ain’t he funny? Ain’t he a good guy?”, so think it’s just that mutual respect and we just like each other.’
Dolly said she really values her husband’s opinion but he never gives her an honest answer ‘in a cruel way’.
‘If I ask him if he likes my hair – “too stringy for me” or “it looks too important” – you know like if it’s too stiff… he always calls it that, “It looks too important”, but I know if I ask him – he won’t just volunteer it – but if I ask him he’ll tell me the truth.’
Zoe was keen to know what her very honest husband thinks of her new album.
‘To be honest I was a little nervous,’ Dolly confessed of playing it for him.
Enduring: The hitmaker and her husband Carl Dean met at a laundromat in Nashville in 1964, and they tied the knot two years later
Icon: Speaking on Zoe Ball ‘s Radio 2 Breakfast Show on Thursday, Dolly, 77, was clear as to why their marriage has endured
‘When I got the whole album done he said, “It’s really good.” And to me, that would be like somebody else jumping up and down and putting stars on the wall or something.’
‘But for him to just say it’s good, it’s really good, meant the world to me.’
The singer’s spouse has become well-known for remaining out of the public eye, although she has shared several photos of him on her social media outlets in the past.
In October last year, the country icon shocked her fans when she announced her retirement from touring saying: ‘I do not think I will ever tour again.’
It came as a surprise to many, as she had once said she would ‘rather die on stage’ than retire.
However, while the 77-year-old country music legend has insisted she will never give up work completely, she has told Good Housekeeping that she doesn’t want to leave her husband of more than five decades on his own for long periods of time.
The hitmaker, who recently spoke about her eclectic sense of style, told the media outlet: ‘I don’t tour anymore. I’ve got so many business things I’m doing. And my husband and I are getting older…and I kind of need to be with him.’
