Dolly Parton shares what keeps her and husband Carl Dean together after 57 years

Dolly Parton knows that absence makes the heart grow fonder. 

In a recent interview with E! News, the country star gave an inside tip as to why she believes her marriage to Carl Dean has lasted almost six decades.

The secret? Space and boundaries.

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"I'm just saying, anything new gets old," the Jolene singer told the outlet.

“I think if you just kind of stay together so much, you just nitpick every little thing and notice all that," she added.

"It's worked for us because we both do different things and it's exciting when we are together. So the fact that there's some little space makes it exciting when you go home."

She also gave details on how exactly she and Dean like to spend their time when they are together.

“I like to cook. And one of the things that we like to do—not necessarily a date night, we have a lot of date days—we have our little RV and we like to travel around,” she explained.

She continued: “Going down and get some food or I'll make a picnic and we go down to the river and have a picnic and just kind of ride around and do our little things."

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 Parton also acknowledges that in her case, opposites attract. While the multi-Grammy winner was made to be onstage, Dean is much more reserved.

"Carl has never been in the limelight and all, never wanted to be in it," she explained. 

"He went to one thing with me early on when we first married to a BMI Song of the Year, and he came out there taking off his tuxedo, his tie, and all that, and said, 'Don't ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things because I ain't going,'" she recalled. 

"I never asked him and he never did," Dolly added.

 The Tennessee native also says that while some distance is key, it’s also important to know your partner on a deep, intimate level as well.

 "Carl has seen me every which way. In fact, I remember when we first got married, I had just got out of the shower and I didn't have my shoes on,” she remembered.

 “He said, 'Well, you ain't big as a bar soap.'"

 Parton met Dean when she was 18 in 1964, and the two tied the knot in Georgia two years later.

 In 2016, Parton and Dean renewed their vows for their 50th wedding anniversary in a gorgeous ceremony.

 A month later, Dean released a rare statement to Entertainment Weekly, talking about his love for his wife.

 “That was the day my life began,” he said of first meeting Parton. “I wouldn't trade the last 50 years for nothing on this earth."