Dolly Parton's husband Carl Thomas Dean has stayed out of the spotlight for most of the couple's marriage
Dolly Parton shares the secret to her long-time marriage
Dolly Parton reveals what her husband Carl thinks of her career and her massive fame.
The mystique surrounding Dolly Parton's relationship with her husband Carl Thomas Dean lives on, as her good pal Reba McEntire just admitted she's never met the man.
Two of country music's powerhouses, the women have been friends for decades. However, during a recent radio show, McEntire revealed some abnormalities about their friendship, things you might not expect given how long they've known each other.
"Is Dolly as good a cook as Dolly says she is?" radio host Andy Cohen inquired on his Sirius XM show to guest, McEntire.
Reba McEntire revealed that she has never met good friend Dolly Parton's husband, Carl Thomas Dean. (Rick Diamond/Getty Images for ACM)
"I don't know, I've never had her food," McEntire shared. "She's never invited me over," adding that she'd never actually been inside Parton's home.
"Have you met Carl?" Cohen probed.
"No, have you?" McEntire answered.
Cohen admitted he hadn't. "But people really do swear he exists," he said.
McEntire completely agreed. "Yeah, I saw something the other day – they were out camping and she and Carl went back to where they got married."
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Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire pose together at the 60th anniversary of the Grand Ole Opry in 1986. (CBS via Getty Images)
Parton and her ever-elusive husband have been married for 57 years. They met at a laundromat when she was 18 and he was 22.
Parton told People magazine in 2022 that her record label at the time had discouraged her from getting married, given they'd invested so much money into her as an artist. Parton and Dean did not wait, marrying inside a small chapel in 1966 after two years of dating.
"I always joke and laugh about when people ask me, ‘What’s the key to my long marriage and lasting love?' I always say, ‘Stay gone.’ And there's a lot of truth to that cuz I travel a lot, and my husband's pretty much a loner. So we really enjoy each other when we're together," she told the outlet.
Dolly Parton and Carl Thomas Dean are pictured holding hands back in the day. (Dolly Parton Instagram)
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Although she has accrued dozens of accolades and is revered as a country music icon, Dean has kept his distance, not showing up to big events of Parton's since attending a disastrous dinner early in her career.
"My husband just doesn't want to be in the spotlight," she told Dan Rather on his show, "The Big Interview," in 2013.
"Years ago, early on when I came to Nashville, I took him to my first award dinner," she said. "And my husband went with me, rented a tuxedo, which I had him do. He was absolutely miserable. And on the way to the car from the dinner, he was taking off stuff," she said through laughter.
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"We got in the car and he said, ‘You know what, I want you to do really well.… I don’t mind what you do, but I ain't never going to more of those damn things, so don't even ask me.' And so I never have. And he never did."
"He's a good guy, and we have a great understanding of each other. We're great friends. Now he's a very complex, involved person. I never get tired of him. He's got his own sense of humor. He's got his own way of thinking."
Dolly Parton says she and husband Carl share a "warped sense of humor." (Jon Morgan/CBS via Getty Images)
But people remain interested in how Parton, 79 in January, and her husband make their untraditional marriage work.
"I think I've talked pretty much about everything through the years with Carl and I; we're different people. But we just work so well together. He's a homebody and I love to travel," she told Entertainment Tonight in 2023, adding Dean's not looking to get out and socialize. "He loves living on the farm, taking care of our property, as he has for all these many years."
"He loves music, but he's not in the music business at all. So we have different things to talk about – his world and my world – and they work really well together. We have a lot of love and respect for each other, and I think the key to all of it – we both have [a] crazy, warped sense of humor."
Caroline Thayer is an entertainment writer. Follow Caroline Thayer on Twitter at @carolinejthayer and LinkedIn. Story tips can be sent to
