Dolly Parton reveals ‘uncomfortable’ reason husband Carl Dean won’t attend public events with her

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Dolly Parton recently revealed why her fans seldom get a picture of her with her husband of 58 years, Carl Dean. 

Parton, 78, recently appeared in Bunnie Xo’s ‘Dumb Blonde’ podcast where she dished out why her husband does not accompany her to the glitzy award shows. 

The ‘Jolene’ singer’, who tied the knot with Dean in 1966, revealed that while Dean wants her to bask in the spotlight, he doesn’t want the same for himself. Parton shared that his aversion to being in the spotlight fuelled his intense desire to avoid public functions altogether.

Dolly Parton reveals why husband Carl Dean doesn't attend public functions

Dolly Parton shared in the podcast that as a newlywed, she rented a tuxedo for her husband, Carl Dean, and begged him to attend the BMI Awards when she was nominated for Song of the Year in 1967.

"I rented him a tux and, you know, begged him to go, and he did," revealed Parton, before adding that though he attended, "he was so uncomfortable the whole night," per People.

At that time, Carl Dean made it clear to her that he was not interested in being in the spotlight, at all. The 11-time Grammy winner reminisced, “He said, ‘Look, now I want you to do everything you want to do, and I wish you the best, but don’t ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain’t going,’ and he never did.”

The ‘9 to 5’ singer explained, “He loves music, but he’s not the least bit interested in being in it,” before clarifying, “And he told me that right up front.”

Parton, who understood his desire to maintain privacy, was not at all surprised on hearing this.

"So we just kinda have that respect, and I respected that because I didn't know he was gonna be that uneasy, but he doesn't even like to go out to, you know, to big dinners or anything like that,” added Parton.

The couple’s fairytale romance started when they met for the first time in front of Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964, when Parton was just 18, and Dean was 21. After dating for a few years, the couple tied the knot in 1966.

In 2016, to mark their 50th wedding anniversary, they renewed their vows at their Nashville home. 

However, despite spending six decades together, Parton highlights their undeniable chemistry. 

Though they are quite opposites in terms of their approaches toward life, Parton noted that they have never fought “back and forth".

She shared, “He’s quiet and I’m loud, and we’re funny… we have a lot of fun,” before adding, “Anytime [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,” noted the star.

Dolly Parton shares how she and Carl Dean celebrate anniversaries

Elsewhere in the interview, Dolly Parton shared that they spend their anniversaries in quite a normal way. 

"Even on anniversaries and stuff like that, we usually stay home and make something special," said the ‘Steel Magnolias’ star. 

"He loves Mexican food, period. But we go, we'll go sit in a booth, if it's an anniversary or just sometimes on a Saturday," she added, before noting, "We know where to go before the crowd comes. He doesn't like big crowds."

She added, "Everybody loves Carl. He don't want me to tell the world nothing about Carl, so there you go. I can talk what I want to, but he'll say, 'Just leave me out the whole damn thing'."