Dolly Parton Shares Painful Details Of Her ‘Affair Of The Heart’ During 50-Year Marriage

Dolly Parton is opening up about very intimate details of her life in her new book Dolly on Dolly: Interviews and Encounters With Dolly Parton.

In an excerpt from the book released May 1, the country superstar reveals she had an affair while married to her husband of 50 years, Carl Dean. She calls the experience an “affair of the heart,” which almost led her to contemplate suicide.

The 71-year-old was in a bad place in the early ’80s and had a horrible experience working with Burt Reynolds on the 1982 film The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She received death threats, which forced her to cancel her tour.

Soon after, her heart was broken by an unidentified “lover” from her affair outside her “open, long marriage.” This led her to take her gun out and consider ending her life.

“I was sitting upstairs in my bedroom one afternoon when I noticed in the nightstand drawer my gun that I keep for burglars,” said the Tennessee native. “I looked at it a long time. … Then, just as I picked it up, just to hold it and look at it for a moment, our little dog, Popeye, came running up the stairs. The tap-tap-tap of his paws jolted me back to reality I suddenly froze. I put the gun down. Then I prayed. I kinda believe Popeye was a spiritual messenger from God.”

Parton continued, “I don’t think I’d have done it — killed myself — but I can’t say for sure. Now that I’ve gone through that terrible moment, I can certainly understand the possibilities — even for someone solid like me — if the pain gets bad enough.”

The singer said she “cried an ocean” over the emotional affair, which may or may not have been consummated.

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This article originally appeared on Womanista.

[H/T Twitter / @CesilIsabel2]