Dolly Parton says 'warped sense of humor' is secret to her 56-year marriage
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton is revealing the key to her 56-year marriage with husband Carl Thomas Dean.
"We both have a warped sense of humor," the country legend, who married Dean on May 30, 1966, told ET Canada. "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," added Parton.
Fortunately, Parton and Dean have never had any serious rows to row back on anyway, the "Jolene" songwriter added. "We've never had, you know, serious arguments to say bad things to each other we have to take back," said Parton.
"I like it when people say, 'How did it last so long?' I say, 'I stay going,' " she teased. "You know, there's a lot to be said about that."
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Another key to their success, according to Parton? The fact that the two work in different fields. "We're not in each other's face all the time," Parton noted. "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. He was the one I was supposed to have and vice versa."
Dolly Parton/instagram Dolly Parton and Carl Thomas Dean
Despite their over 50-year romance, Parton and Dean are hardly ever seen in public together, and photos of the couple tend to come from Parton's personal collection.
The pair first met at a laundromat in Nashville when Parton was just 18 years old. "I was surprised and delighted that while he talked to me, he looked at my face (a rare thing for me)," she jokingly wrote on her website. "He seemed to be genuinely interested in finding out who I was and what I was about."
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Two years later, the twosome snuck off to tie the knot, with only Parton's mother, the pastor and his wife in attendance. "We thought Ringgold because we knew that was where you could get your license and get married the same day," she recalled to a local news station in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
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Earlier this year, Parton also opened up to Daily Pop about how she keeps her marriage fresh after so many years.
"I like to dress up for Carl," the country star said in an interview with the now-canceled E! News show. "Every day, I put on some makeup and fix my hair because I think, 'Well, the whole world, I'm out here and everybody else sees me all dressed up, and I'm not going to just kind of go home and just flop on him.' "
She added, "Nobody wants to make out with a slouch!"
"It's important to me that I look as good as I can," the "9 to 5" singer shared. "I think it kind of helps keep things spicy."