9 Rare Moments Dolly Parton Revealed About Her Super-Private Relationship

9 Relationship Details Shared by Dolly Parton 

Dolly Parton, known for her amazing voice continues to win the hearts of fans and followers with her candid demeanor. However, her fame also led to immense prying in her relationship with Carl Thomas Dean. While Parton has been a staple on stages and red carpets, Dean has chosen to stay out of the spotlight, offering his support to his wife behind the scenes. Throughout their almost 58-year marriage, Dean has remained discreet, preferring to stay out of the public eye. While Dean tends to keep a low profile, Parton has consistently shown her love and appreciation for him in various interviews. Here's looking into the heartfelt expressions she has conveyed about her relationship.

1. The First Meet 

During a 1976 interview with the New York Times, the iconic singer of "Jolene" shared insights into her initial encounter with Dean. According to Parton, they crossed paths on her inaugural day in Nashville. “I was at the Laundromat, the Wishy‐Washy‐‐I’d come to Nashville with dirty clothes. I was in such a hurry to get here—and after I’d put my clothes in the machine, I started walkin’ down the street, just lookin’ at my new borne, and this guy hollered at me, and I waved,” Parton remembered. “Bein’ from the country, I spoke to everybody. And he came over and, well, it was Carl, my husband. He came up every day that week and we set out on the porch. I wouldn’t even take him in the house,” the singer remembered.

2. The Wedding Tale

Following their two-year acquaintance, Dolly Parton and Carl Thomas Dean exchanged vows in a private ceremony at the Ringgold Baptist Church in Georgia, as reported by Elle. The intimate affair was attended by the couple, the pastor, and Parton's mother, Avie Lee Owens. “I said, ‘I’ve got to have momma there,'” the singer once remembered. “So I had bought a little dress, momma had bought me a Bible, some flowers on it. We grabbed momma and went back, and got married on a Monday, in a church.”

3. The Supportive Partner Anecdote 

Parton has frequently discussed Dean's unwavering support throughout her career and achievements, acknowledging his preference for a quieter lifestyle despite her bustling career. “He never tried to make me give it up,” Parton told the New York Times of her career. “And he’s proud of me, but he’s not necessarily a fan. He don’t particularly like to hear me sing.”

4. They Never Accompanied Each Other to Public Events

While Parton and Dean may have all the connection and spark in the world at home, Dean has remained out of the spotlight over the years. According to Parton, it was a decision he made after being her plus one at an event many years ago. “Carl has never been in the limelight and all never wanted to be in it. He don’t like it,” Parton said in an episode of What Would Dolly Do?, per Southern Living. “He went to one thing with me early on, when we first married, to a BMI Song of the Year [event], and he came out of there taking off his tuxedo, his tie and all that and said, ‘Don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going.’ I never asked him and he never did.”

5. The Secret to a Lasting Marriage

In a 2022 interview, Parton openly shared insights into her long-lasting loving marriage with Dean. "We’re not in each other’s face all the time," she told Entertainment Tonight at the time. "He’s not in the business so we have different interests, but yet we have the things we love to do together. So it was meant to be, I think," she added. "He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa. We both have a warped sense of humor," she added. "And I think humor, honestly, is one of the best things when you’re married like that. Even if you have a problem, if you have a great sense of humor, if you say something you can’t take back [you] usually have some crazy way of getting out of it.”

6. Having the Boundaries

In a separate interview where the question centered on the secret to their relationship, Parton acknowledged that maintaining some distance might hold the answer. "I always joke and laugh when people ask me what’s the key to my long marriage and lasting love," Parton told People in 2018. "I always say ‘Stay gone! and there’s a lot of truth to that. I travel a lot, but we really enjoy each other when we’re together and the little things we do."

7. The Little Traditions

The couple according to Parton loves trying out food together, hence they built a tradition out of it. “Carl and I have a little camper, a little RV, and we’re always driving through fast food restaurants to get our stuff,” she said in a 2016 Sirius XM interview with Andy Cohen, per Country Living. “That’s one of the things we do. I’m always in the front seat. Sometimes they know me, sometimes they don’t. We do whatever feels happy and comfortable with us,” she said of their date nights. “It’s hard for me to get him to dress up to go to a nice dinner because he’s just a country boy and hates that stuff. We do whatever’s good. We have a good time.”

8. Decision to Bear No Kids

During their five-decade union, Parton and Dean opted not to have children together, a decision they made jointly and have stood by without regrets, as per Parton's remarks. “I used to think I should regret it,” Parton told Billboard of their decision. “Early on, when my husband and I were dating, and then when we got married, we just assumed we would have kids. We weren’t doing anything to stop it. In fact, we thought maybe we would. We even had names if we did, but it didn’t turn out that way. Now I say, ‘God didn’t mean for me to have kids so everybody’s kids could be mine,'” she said. “I’m very close to my family — five of my younger brothers and sisters lived with me and Carl for many years — and we’re very close to our nieces and nephews. Now that Carl and I are older, we often say, ‘Aren’t you glad we didn’t have kids? Now we don’t have kids to worry about,'” she concluded.

9. Not so Open Marriage

The secret to their undying love for each other according to Parton has been their flirty attitude out of their marriage. "Short, fat, bald or skinny — I’ve had crushes on some very unusual men," she said in her documentary for Channel 5, Dolly Parton: In Her Own Words, per DailyMail. “Carl knows I’ll always come home and I’m not having sex with these people — I’m just flirting and having fun. He’s not jealous and I’m not jealous of him. He knows I flirt. He flirts too,” she continued. “Yes, it’s an open relationship, but not sexually and I would kill him if I thought he was doing that. He would shoot me too,” she added. “At the end of the day, we love each other madly.”