The tumultuous marriage between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz is well documented at this point. It's a classic Hollywood story, meeting on the set of I Love Lucy and marrying while still working together. However, it inevitably soured quickly, ending their marriage and their hit show in the process. A swirl of toxicity and miscommunications and infidelity rot the relationship from ever thriving. But their daughter Lucie Arnaz wants to clear up any misconceptions people may have about her parents' relationship.
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Recently, she spoke with Mo Rocca for CBS Sunday Morning, where she addresses her father cheating on her mother. There, she makes the distinction that it's not quite affairs what he had. It was never seemingly personal. Lucie claims that it was merely a transactional experience, that there was still love for the family, despite Desi's flaws. Moreover, apparently, Lucille Ball understood and stuck it out with him for as long as possible.
Lucille Ball's Daughter Lucie Opens Up About Parents' Unhealthy Relationship
"People say he had affairs. He never had an affair. He didn't even know these dames' names. They were hookers," Lucie highlights. "He loved my mother, he loved his family. It was a very unique, weird problem to have. And I think that's the reason she stayed with him so long, is that she understood it. I don't think I could do what she did. But somehow, at the time, with what they had, with what they needed from each other, they stuck it out as long as they could."
When it came to Lucie and her little brother Desi learning the news, neither of them quite understood it. However, she does note that there was more peace in the home after the divorce. "We were at their house in Palm Springs, and they said that, 'We love each other, but being husband and wife part is broken, and we can't live together anymore,'" she recalls.
"I remember that my brother said, 'But if it's broken, can't you just fix it? Can't you put stuff on it and fix it?'" Lucie continues. "And they said, 'I don't think so.' The truth of it is, Mo, they were happier after they got divorced. The screaming and the arguing and all that stuff stopped. "I was very protective of my dad, believe it or not. I felt really sorry for my dad, I felt like he was the one that got ousted."
