Dolly Parton Says She and Husband Carl Dean ‘Have Never Fought’
Dolly Parton already exudes relationship goals thanks to her 54-year marriage to her husband, Carl Dean. But what's the Queen of Country's secret to enjoying such a long-lasting romantic union?
Well, for one thing, Parton says that she and Dean "have never fought."
Of course, that doesn't mean the veteran singer and her partner have always seen eye-to-eye on everything. Still, as Parton recently told rising country star Gabby Barrett in an enlightening Amazon Music video interview, the committed couple's discussions have never escalated into a full-blown fight. That's likely because Parton — a master of the music business who's also conquered television, film, books, theme parks and more — also treats her marriage like a business partnership.
"You have to work at anything," Dolly explains, as reported by People. "Marriage is a business, too, and you got to look at it like that. You got to make the right decisions for all the little things that come up."
She continues, "We've never bickered back and forth because I never wanted us to say bad things that we would have to remember. We get a little pissy now and then, but we'll just kind of walk off or go do something else and let that die down."
Parton's advice comes at a pertinent time for the 20-year-old Barrett — she's about to celebrate her first wedding anniversary with musician and fellow American Idol alum Cade Foehner this October.
But Parton has another trick up her sleeve for making a marriage work for over half a century: giving each other space. That's been easy for the successful singer to do with her jet-setting lifestyle.
"I've always made jokes that the reason our marriage has lasted so long is because I stay gone," Parton says. "Well, there's a lot of truth in that. We're not in each other's face all the time. I think there's a lot to be said about having some sensible separation because you can't be with somebody 24/7, 365 and not want to smack their face now and then."
The pair's respective dispositions play a part in that.
"He's pretty much a loner and a homebody, and I'm a gypsy," Parton states. "But when I'm home, I love that. We don't do the same thing, so it gives us different stuff to talk about. He doesn't get involved in my business, and I don't in his, so we have our own little world that we create for ourselves."
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