Dolly Parton, 77, opened up about honesty in her 57-year marriage with her husband Carl Dean, 81. After meeting outside a Nashville laundromat, the Islands in the Stream hitmaker, then 20, and the asphalt businessman, then 23, got married in a very intimate ceremony in 1966 with just her mother as a witness.
Carl has kept largely away from the spotlight while his country music singer wife shot to fame, but Dolly has shared a few rare comments about their relationship.
During an appearance on the Zoe Ball Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, she admitted he doesn't "volunteer" honest answers but he does share his opinion when asked.
"Not in a cruel way! But 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," she explained.
In fact, she credited their mutual openness as the secret to their happy relationship. "We’ve been together 59 [years], we dated two years, and then we just celebrated our 57th anniversary on May the 30th.
"But I think so much of it is the fact that we are honest and open and we have a warped sense of humour! 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. But 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," she said.
Dolly was actually advised to delay her wedding to Carl as her record label feared it would hinder her career.
She told CMT News: "Everyone at my label — Monument Records and Fred Foster — had invested money in me and in building my career, so they asked me if I'd wait a year to get married."
However, the couple went against their advice and eloped to Georgia. She looked beautiful in a white sleeveless mini dress with a fitted bodice and an A-line skirt, which she later said she regretted.
"We're going to get married again!" Dolly said to People in 2016, revealing she wants a much more elaborate second wedding dress.
"I'll have a beautiful wedding dress, 'cause I didn't have a big long wedding dress when we got married, and we've got a suit for him, so we're going to dress up and take a bunch of pictures," she continued.
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