Dolly Parton, 80, plans wedding to secret lover months after loss

After Dolly Parton’s beloved husband, Carl Dean, passed away on March 3, 2025, the country legend vowed she would never marry again. RadarOnline.com can reveal. But apparently Parton has now changed her tune. “As time has gone by, she has learned to heal from her broken heart,” the insider said. ‘Dolly is getting married again.’

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

And some said she already has. The source added that there are rumors that Parton has been secretly dating someone for months and that she has already found love again.

Sources said Parton’s prayers have been answered and she is finally feeling much better physically as well. Last year the 9 to 5 star struggled with some serious health issues. In early September, she was forced to cancel a performance at Dollywood and withdraw from her highly anticipated Las Vegas shows as she was recovering from kidney stones.

“It turned out there was an infection,” the songbird revealed.

Concerns about Parton grew weeks later when she gave a less-than-positive health update: “My doctors are telling me I need to have a few procedures.”

If RadarOnline.com readers know there was even talk of planning her own funeral.

But since the new year, Parton has recovered extremely well, said the insider, who added, “She’s finally feeling like her old self again.”

“Her feistiness is back. She’s playful, devilish again. She’s so full of life. She deserves another great relationship like she had with Dean – even at this stage of her life. She’ll definitely keep the man on his toes,” the source said.

The I will always love you The singer admitted that the process of moving on has been slow, explaining, “I’m going to have to relearn some things. It’s a hole in my heart, you know, but we’ll fill that with good things.”

She admitted that even her marriage to Dean surprised her, so anything is possible. “I wasn’t planning on getting married, but you know how love goes,” said Parton, who was 18 when she met Dean at a laundromat the day she moved to Nashville to launch her music career. Two years later, in 1966, the lovebirds tied the knot.

“I’ve always had an open mind about sex,” she said. “I’ve always loved sex. I never had a bad experience with it. I was just very emotional. For me, sex wasn’t dirty. It was something very intimate and very real.”

Now Parton longs for that connection again, the insider said, and she is guided by her faith.

“Tomorrow I’ll wake up and I’ll see what God has in mind,” Parton said. “I need to finish things I’m already working on, and I know God is going to give me something else. Every new day brings new things. There are always new dreams.’