Dolly Parton shares secret to the success of her 58-year marriage

Dolly Parton has shared her secrets to the success of her marriage – which will soon reach 60 years.

The 78-year-old wed businessman Carl Dean in 1966 – with the pair getting married two years after they met outside a laundromat in Nashville.

Reflecting on her marriage on the Dumb Blonde podcast, Parton said, “He’s a good guy. He’s quiet and I’m loud, and we’re funny. He’s hilarious.

“I think one of the things that made (our marriage) last so long through the years is we love each other, we respect each other, but we have a lot of fun.”

She continued, “Any time (there is) too much tension going on, either one of us can, like, find a joke about it to really break the tension, where we don’t let it go so far. We never fought back and forth – and I’m glad we never did.”

Recalling the start of her relationship, the Jolene singer said, “I left two boyfriends that had wanted to marry me and kept saying, ‘No, I’m gonna move to Nashville.’

“I thought, ‘The last thing I want is a boyfriend,’ and so, I got here … the very day I got to Nashville, I met Carl Dean. And 60 years later, I’m still with Carl Dean!”

She added that their opposite characters have made their marriage work.

Parton admitted, “Well, he was a homebody, and that worked well for us. He was in asphalt paving, but his sign is Cancer and I’m Capricorn, and those are compatible signs.

“The Capricorn is the mountain goat because it’s always climbing and the Cancer is more of a homebody. He really was.”