Dolly Parton has revealed that she thinks “a little distance” is the key to a successful marriage.
The country music icon revealed that her time away from her husband of 57 years, Carl Dean, has made their marriage stronger.
“I would say, everything new gets old,” Dolly told E! News in an interview published Thursday. “And I think when you're together a lot, you start to nitpick and realize all the little things.”
Dolly, 78, explained that making time away from her 81-year-old husband helps keep their relationship “exciting”.
“We all do different things so it's fun to be together, so having a little space gives us a fun feeling when we come home,” she said.
The producer of the hit song “Jolene” then revealed what he enjoys doing alongside former businessman Carl.
“We just enjoy each other,” she told the outlet. “I love to cook. And one of the things we love to do is, not necessarily date nights, but a lot of date days. We have a little camper and we travel around. We'll go down and get food, I'll pack a picnic, we'll go to the river and have a picnic, we'll go for a drive, we'll do little things.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Dolly was asked if she's ever seen her husband without her trademark hairstyle and makeup.
“Oh yeah,” she replied with a laugh. “Karl has looked at me from every angle. In fact, I remember when we first got married, I had just gotten out of the shower, I had no shoes on, and he said, 'You're no bigger than a bar of soap.'”
Dolly and Carl met in Nashville, Tennessee in 1964 and married two years later.