<p id=”par-1_60″><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/dolly-parton/”>Dolly Parton</a> and her husband, Carl Dean, were happily <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/celebrity-relationships/?swcfpc=1″>married</a> for nearly six decades. They fit well together, and Parton felt she could be her most honest self around him. In the earliest days of their relationship, though, she experienced uncertainty. Parton shared why she felt like she wanted to get away from Dean’s family the first time they met.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-she-felt-on-edge-when-she-met-carl-dean-s-family”>Dolly Parton said she felt on edge when she met Carl Dean’s family</h2>
<p id=”par-2_30″>On Parton and Dean’s first official date, he took her to meet his parents. They invited her to stay for dinner, which Parton found daunting. She’d rarely attended dinner parties. </p>
<p id=”par-3_14″>“I was <em>real</em> bashful,” she said, per the book <em>Smart Blonde</em> by Stephen Miller.</p>
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<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-width=”550″ data-dnt=”true”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Dolly Parton with her husband Carl Dean in the 60s <a href=”https://t.co/UACnxeHSbO”>pic.twitter.com/UACnxeHSbO</a></p>— History Defined (@historydefined) <a href=”https://twitter.com/historydefined/status/1939481606235791758?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 30, 2025</a></blockquote><script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
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<p id=”par-4_29″>Parton didn’t think she could eat primly. She said her best option seemed to be avoiding food altogether, and then going home to eat without <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-growing-up-without-bathroom-facilities-river.html/”>worrying about table manners</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-5_62″>“Bein’ from the country I wasn’t used to eatin’ with strangers or going to people’s houses and you know how you’re funny about your table manners and feel self-conscious?” she said. “So when people ask you to eat you say, ‘No, I’ve just had something,’ and you’ll be starved to death and wishing they’d gone so you could eat like a dog.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-dolly-parton-said-the-way-carl-dean-introduced-her-also-threw-her-off-balance”>Dolly Parton said the way Carl Dean introduced her also threw her off balance</h2>
<p id=”par-6_39″>Part of the reason for Parton’s discomfort could have been the way that Dean introduced her. They’d known each other for a short period of time, but he was incredibly confident about their relationship when she met his parents. </p>
<p id=”par-7_69″>“Inside, his mother was just putting supper on the table. Without any other word of introduction Carl said to his mother, ‘Fix this girl a plate. She’s the one I’m going to marry,’” Parton wrote in her book<em> Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business</em>. “With a nervous laugh I tried to acknowledge that he had made a little joke. But something in his voice told me he hadn’t.”</p>
<p id=”par-8_10″>She said she felt <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/dolly-parton-outraged-scared-death-way-future-husband-introduced-family.html/”>frustrated and excited</a> by his words.</p>
<p id=”par-9_70″>“In all my life, I have never felt such an odd combination of emotions,” she wrote. “First, I was shocked that he wanted to marry me, since he had never given me any indication that he cared that much for me. Second, I was astounded. I remember thinking, ‘Who the hell does this guy think he is?’ I felt flattered, outraged, touched, turned on, scared to death, and completely confused.”</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-they-were-married-for-nearly-60-years”>They were married for nearly 60 years</h2>
<p id=”par-10_34″>Though he was perhaps brashly confident, Dean was right. <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/the-real-reason-dolly-parton-eloped-with-carl-dean-instead-of-dream-wedding.html/”>He married Parton</a> in 1966, and they remained together until his death this year. She said she has struggled in the aftermath of his death.</p>
<p id=”par-11_55″>“I just try to go on, because I know I have to,” she told the <a href=”https://apnews.com/article/dolly-parton-husband-carl-dean-dollywood-broadway-a596a40fd322f47e5aacc68acc8ece93″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Associated Press</a>. “And he was ill for quite a while, and part of me was at peace that he was at peace and not suffering anymore. But that still doesn’t make up for the loss and the loneliness of it.”</p>
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<iframe title=”Dolly Parton – If You Hadn’t Been There (Official Audio)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/JPzwXz1RX4s?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-12_11″>She released the song “If You Hadn’t Been There” about him.</p>