Dolly Parton still gets asked whether her husband really exists

Singer Dolly Parton married in 1966. Photo / Getty Images

Dolly Parton been married to Carl Dean since 1966, but because she keeps her marriage out of the spotlight, Dolly still gets asked if he's actually real.

The 74-year-old singer shared "A lot of people have thought that through the years, because he does not want to be in the spotlight at all.

"It's just not who he is. He's like, a quiet, reserved person and he figured if he ever got out there in that, he'd never get a minute's peace and he's right about that."

Dolly has made a concerted effort to keep her husband out of the limelight during her career.

And the 'Jolene' hitmaker insists it's worked perfectly for the couple.

She told 'Entertainment Tonight' "I've always respected and appreciated that in him and I've always tried to keep him out of the limelight as much as I can.

"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. We've been together 56 years, married 54."

Dolly actually thinks that not being "in each other's faces" has helped their relationship.

She said "Our joke about the fact, when people ask me why it's lasted this long, I say, 'Because I stay gone.' And there's a lot of truth in that - the fact that we're not in each other's faces all the time.

"But we do have a great respect and admiration for each other. We both have a great sense of humour. So, we have a lot of fun."

Asked how they spend their time when they're together, Dolly explained: "We have very similar tastes ... we love to travel around our little RV, and we don't like parties and all that stuff."