Lucille Ball And Desi Arnaz Were Never The Same After The End Of Their Marriage

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz met in 1940 on the set of the musical comedy "Too Many Girls" and didn't waste any time getting married. The two eloped only months after they first met and went on to welcome two children: daughter Lucie Arnaz and a son, Desi Arnaz Jr. Their relationship became a beloved source of entertainment with their iconic sitcom "I Love Lucy," a show that featured them as married couple, Lucy Ricardo and Ricky Ricardo. The show first aired in 1951 but curiously ended very abruptly in 1957. There wasn't even a final episode to give the show a proper finish. What fans didn't realize at the time was that Ball and Arnaz's relationship was unravelling behind the scenes. The seemingly perfect couple, beloved by fans everywhere, divorced in 1960.  

Even though they presented on TV as the perfect couple, Ball and Arnaz clashed in their marriage. Arnaz struggled with alcoholism. Plus, Arnaz was repeatedly unfaithful to Ball. Their daughter, Lucie, later told CBS Sunday Morning in June 2025 that her father regularly employed sex workers. "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." Lucie said that her parents were able to give each other what they needed in an unconventional way, until they couldn't anymore, and they finally divorced. But they were never fully able to move on from each other. 

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz admitted that they were still in love even when they decided to divorce. Their daughter, Lucie Arnaz, told CBS Sunday Morning that when she was eight and her brother was seven, her parents explained that they were divorcing. "We were at their house in Palm Springs," Lucie said. "And they said, 'We love each other, but the being husband and wife part is broken and we can't live together anymore.'" Lucie went on to say that her parents were happier after they got divorced; they stopped fighting, and the pressures of married life dissipated, giving a classic example of a gray divorce, an intriguing relationship ender. 

The two got back into dating after divorce, which is no small feat, and both remarried. However, Ball and Arnaz remained close. In fact, Lucie told Closer Weekly in 2019 that her parents' divorce was good for both of them. They were kind to each other and spoke well of the other. "They stayed friends til the day they died," Lucie said of Ball and Arnaz. "It was a fantastic romance that even got more passionate and more friendly after they were not married to each other anymore, so there." It was certainly unconventional, but it worked for them. Ball's contemporary, Elizabeth Taylor, had myriad relationships that were full of red flags, so clearly relationships are unique for everyone. And it's impressive that Ball and Arnaz were able to remain close after divorce.