Dolly Parton isn’t planning on saying “I do” again.
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During the opening day ceremonies at her Dollywood theme park, the country said that she doesn’t plan to get married again following the death of her husband, Carl Dean.
“I am not dating anybody. I’m not married,” Parton said, according to Knox News. “I don’t think I’ll ever be married but once. I think Carl Dean’s waiting for me on the other side.”
As for what Dean would think if Parton did tie the knot again, the singer quipped, “If I should show up at the pearly gates with somebody else, he would not like that.”
“He’d be saying, ‘Who’s that little pisser? You leave him outside the gates and if the Lord wants him in, he’ll bring him. You get on in here with me,’” Parton joked of her late husband, who died in March 2025.
What to Know About Dolly Parton and Carl Dean
It was at the same ceremony last year where Parton made her first appearance following Dean’s death.
“He would expect me to be workin’ today, so I expect to be workin’,” she said at the time. “Of course, I will always love him, and I’ll miss him, but I wanted you to know that I will always love you.”
In a statement after Dean’s death, Parton said, “Carl and I spent many wonderful years together. Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years. Thank you for your prayers and sympathy.”
When he was alive, Dean largely stayed out of the spotlight and opted not to attend events with his famous wife. That, Parton previously told People, was one of the secrets to the couple’s success.
“I always joke and laugh when people ask me, ‘What’s the key to my long marriage and lasting love?’ I always say ‘Stay gone!’ There’s a lot of truth to that,” she said. “I travel a lot, but we really enjoy each other when we’re together and the little things we do. Our life is simple but easy. We don’t even have that much company at home. We just like to be together.”
Photo by Theo Wargo/WireImage
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