These Were Lucille Ball's Last Words To Desi Arnaz, Daughter Reveals

Today, it’s easy to assume that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz spent their entire lives together. For six years, the pair appeared as a married couple on I Love Lucy, and that’s the image most associated with each of them. But, life went on after their time on the show, and Ball and Arnaz divorced in 1960 after being married for 20 years. Then, both entertainers remarried to the people they would stay with until their final days.

But, even though they didn’t stay together, the love between Arnaz and Ball remained. In a new interview with People, their daughter, Lucie Arnaz, shared her mother’s last words to her father before he died in 1986, and they show just how strong their bond still was. Read on to find out more.

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Arnaz and Ball both remarried.

Ball and Arnaz were married for 11 years by the time I Love Lucy debuted in 1951. According to Lucie, part of the reason they did the show together was to strengthen their relationship. As reported by Closer, their marriage was strained over the years by Arnaz’s drinking and cheating.

“They did the show so they could be together because my dad was always on the road and they never saw each other,” Lucie told People. “So my parents thought, ‘Well, this is going to save our marriage, and we can have a family.'”

The couple welcomed both of their children while I Love Lucy was on the air. Lucie was born in 1951 and Desi Arnaz Jr. was born in 1953.

“They gave the country this wonderful creation, but they never got what they wanted—to stay together,” Lucie continued. “[But] they loved each other until the end.”

They remained close, even after their split.