Dolly Parton Has ‘No Longer Closed Her Mind’ Off to ‘Falling in Love’ After Losing Husband Carl Dean

After Dolly Parton’s beloved husband, Carl Dean, died on March 3, 2025, the country legend swore she would never marry again, sources say. But apparently now Dolly has changed her tune, National Examiner can reveal. “As time has gone on, she’s learned to heal from her broken heart,” says an insider. “Dolly will get married again.”

No one will ever replace Carl, but Dolly knows he would want her to be happy again. “So she’s no longer closed her mind to falling in love again — or even walking down the aisle again,” says the insider. “She may be 80, but there’s still plenty of time to find a new man!”

And some say she has already! The source adds that there are whispers Dolly has been secretly dating someone for months and she’s found love again already.

Just two weeks after Carl’s death at age 82, Dolly told Knox News, “I’m doing better than I thought I would,” noting that he “suffered a great deal” from various health issues. “I’m at peace that he’s at peace, but that don’t keep me from missing him,” she confided. “He’ll always be with me.”

But if anyone can find love again at 80, it’s Dolly. If the right man comes along, “she would take a leap of faith and see where things go,” notes the insider. “A year ago, she would have said no way. Even six months ago, she would have laughed if you mentioned the notion of her remarrying. Now things are different.”

Sources say Dolly’s prayers have been answered and she’s also finally feeling a lot better physically. Last year, the 9 to 5 star grappled with a number of serious health issues. In early September, she was forced to cancel an appearance at Dollywood and back out of her highly anticipated Las Vegas shows because she was recovering from kidney stones.

“Turns out there was an infection,” the songbird revealed online.

Concern for Dolly grew weeks later when she gave a not-so-positive health update: “My doctors tell me that I must have a few procedures.”

As Examiner readers know, there was even talk of her planning her own funeral. But since the New Year, Dolly has rebounded extremely well, says the insider. “She’s finally feeling like her old self again. Her spunkiness is back. She’s playful again, devilish. She’s so full of life. She deserves another wonderful relationship like she had with Carl — even at this stage in her life. She will definitely keep the guy on his toes,” the source gabs.

The “I Will Always Love You” singer concedes the process of moving on has been slow, explaining to Knox News, “I’m going to have to relearn some things. It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that up with good stuff.” She admits even her marriage to Carl took her by surprise, so anything is possible. “I hadn’t intended to marry, but you know how love goes,” Dolly, who was 18 when she met Carl at a laundromat on the day she moved to Nashville to launch her music career, told The New York Times. Two years later, in 1966, the lovebirds tied the knot.

“We’re really proud of our marriage,” she once said.

Their secret to happiness? Carl supported her career wholeheartedly — but never wanted anything to do with it.

Dolly recalled after attending one awards show with her early on “He said, ‘Look, now I want you to do everything you want to do, and I wish you the best, but don’t you ever ask me to go to another one of these damn things cuz I ain’t going,'” during Bunny XO’s Dumb Blonde podcast in December 2024, People reported.

“And I knew right then that I’m just going to keep him private as best I can. I have to be out in the public, and I belong to the public. But I am such a private person, and my husband was, as well.”

Any man Dolly meets now would also have to not feel threatened by her career, which can consume her at times, sources say.

“Still, there are plenty of fellas out there who would love to take her out, and not just in Nashville,” says the insider. “She’s universally admired and has always loved men, and no one can see her living out the rest of her days completely alone.”

The beloved performer, who famously modeled her exaggerated look on the “town tramp” from her childhood, has never been ashamed of seeking intimacy. “I’ve always had an open mind about sex,” she reportedly told Playboy in the ’70s. “I always loved sex. I never had a bad experience with it. I was just very emotional. To me, sex was not dirty. It was somethin’ very intimate and very real.”

Now Dolly is craving that connection again, says the insider, and she is letting her faith guide her.

“I’ll wake up tomorrow, and I’ll see whatever God has in mind,” Dolly says. “I’ve got to finish things I’ve already got in the works, and I know God’s going to give me something else. Every new day brings on new things. There are always new dreams.”