Dolly Parton Reveals How She Keeps Her Marriage 'Spicy': 'I Like to Dress Up for Carl'

Charmaine Patterson
·3 min read
Dolly Parton Visits The Cast of
Dolly Parton Visits The Cast of

Dave J Hogan/Getty Images Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton is sharing how she keeps her 55-year marriage to Carl Thomas Dean fresh!

"I like to dress up for Carl," the country star — who married Dean on May 30, 1966 — told E! News' Daily Pop Wednesday. "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."

She and Dean, who has long shunned the spotlight and never appears at public events with his wife, tied the knot after meeting in a Nashville laundromat.

RELATED: Dolly Parton Celebrates Her 76th Birthday by 'Just Hangin' Out' in Her 'Birthday Suit'

Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
Dolly Parton and Carl Dean

Dolly Parton and Carl Dean

RELATED: 'Messy' Cook Dolly Parton Says Husband Carl Dean Is 'Good About Cleaning Up for Me' in the Kitchen

In 2018, she opened up to PEOPLE about their "great relationship," pointing out, "We've been together most of our lives."

"I always joke and laugh when people ask me what's the key to my long marriage and lasting love," Parton continued. "I always say 'Stay gone!' and there's a lot of truth to that. I travel a lot, but we really enjoy each other when we're together and the little things we do."

RELATED VIDEO: Dolly Parton on Her Marriage to Husband Carl Dean: "He Loves Me The Way I Am"

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Though Parton certainly loves to get dolled up — "He knows I'm always going to kind of be fixed up for him because I don't believe in going home and being a slouch" — she is most grateful that Dean sees her inner beauty. "He doesn't care what I wear as long as I'm happy," said Parton. "He loves me the way I am."

Earlier this week, Parton told PEOPLE she and Dean are also partners in the kitchen.

While she said she enjoys a quiet kitchen, she shared that Dean is always welcome to join her.

"I like it when he comes. A lot of times he'll sit and watch me, or he'll talk," she said. "He's a pretty good cook. Not a gourmet cook, but I tour so much he's always, through the years, had to fix things for himself. So he knows how to do that, but he loves my cooking."

The couple has established an agreement: She does the cooking, and he does the cleaning.

"I'm a messy cooker, and he's good about cleaning up for me and keeping the stuff cleaned up around me," she said. "But sometimes I don't want anybody around, so I'll just say, 'Why don't you go to the den, I'll clean this up later or you can help me later.' "

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