Dolly Parton‘s late husband, Carl Dean, who died on Monday (March 3) at 82, was such a person of thriller that even a number of the nation star’s closest buddies had by no means met him, together with Reba McEntire.
In a 2024 interview with Andy Cohen, McEntire was requested if Parton is an efficient cook dinner, to which the previous Voice coach replied, “I don’t know. I’ve by no means had her meals! She’s by no means invited me over.”
This revelation led Cohen to ask whether or not or not McEntire had ever met Parton’s husband, to which she answered, “No, have you ever?”
“No, however folks actually do swear he exists,” Cohen quipped. “Isn’t it unbelievable that she’s been in a position to hold this man a secret this lengthy?
“Completely!” McEntire replied.
Parton and Dean married on Could 30, 1966, and the one witnesses on the marriage ceremony had been Parton’s mother, the pastor, and the pastor’s spouse. The couple by no means had kids, and Dean selected to stay out of the highlight.
“Carl and I spent many fantastic years collectively,” Parton mentioned in an announcement on Monday following his passing. “Phrases can’t do justice for the love we shared for over 60 years. Thanks on your prayers and sympathy.”
As for why Dean was by no means seen in public, Parton defined in a podcast interview with Jelly Roll‘s spouse, Bunnie Xo, final yr that he was uncomfortable on the earth of present enterprise. She recalled how he as soon as accompanied her to the BMI Awards not lengthy after they tied the knot, and he hated it.
“I rented a tux and begged him to go,” Parton mentioned of the occasion, the place she was slated to obtain her first-ever Songwriter of the Yr award. “And he did, and oh, he was so uncomfortable the entire evening.”
After the couple returned residence, the “9 to five” singer remembered, “He mentioned, ‘Look now, I would like you to do every little thing you wish to do, and I want you the very best, however don’t ever ask me to go to a different certainly one of these rattling issues, as a result of I’m not doing it.’ And he by no means did.”
“I revered that,” she added. “I didn’t know he was gonna be that uneasy.”
In 2021, Parton shared a throwback photograph of them collectively, noting how Dean was her greatest supporter behind the scenes. “Discover you a accomplice who will assist you want my Carl Dean does!” she captioned the publish.
Talking with the Related Press in 1984, the “Jolene” singer joked, “Lots of people say there’s no Carl Dean, that he’s simply any person I made as much as hold different folks off me.”