Dolly Parton insists her husband really does exist.
The country icon addressed long-standing rumours that Carl Dean is a fabrication in her new book Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.
In a recent interview with ET, Parton explained that Dean is not interested in being in the spotlight.
“It's just not who he is,” she said. “He’s like, a quiet, reserved person. “He said, ‘I didn't choose this world, I chose you, and you chose that world. But we can keep our lives separate and together.’ And we do and we have.”
Parton, 74, and Dean, 78, have been married 54 years. The singer said her busy schedule, which typically keeps her away from home, is the key to the couple’s longevity. “The fact that we're not in each other's faces all the time,” she said.
“But we do have a great respect and admiration for each other. We both have a great sense of humour."
Parton has previously said she met Dean outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville on her first day in Nashville.
Some have suggested Dean’s role is to cover for a relationship between Parton and lifetime friend Judy Ogle. Parton shot down that rumour in a 1991 Vanity Fair interview: “If we were lovers I would not be ashamed of it, I'd just say there’s a great love between us — so there."