Desi Arnaz's daughter opens up about her father's alleged affairs in rare interview

Desi Arnaz's daughter is getting candid about her father's allegedly philandering ways in a rare interview.

Lucie Arnaz, born to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, spoke to CBS Sunday Morning for an interview that aired on Sunday, June 15. Now 73, she reflected on her father's propensity to cheat on the I Love Lucy star.

"People say he had affairs. He never had an affair. He didn't even know these dames' names. They were hookers."

When correspondent Mo Rocca asked her if "They were transactional?" she said,

"Yeah. 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." She continued, "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."

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Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball's union explored as friends of the couple claim the latter loved her former husband until his passing:

Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball got hitched in November 1940, and 11 years into their union, they debuted a show that some might say paved the way for the modern sitcom. Desi was a successful musician in his own right before that, and Ball was an aspiring actress.

They both played Ricky Ricardo and Lucy Ricardo, respectively, and welcomed their daughter six weeks after filming the pilot episode. According to the New York Post, Ball initially wanted to name her daughter Susan, but Desi Arnaz allegedly changed it to Lucie behind her back.

The two also had a son, Desi Arnaz Jr., born in 1953. Ball filed for divorce after 2 decades of marriage in March 1960, citing his alcohol abuse and affairs. According to People Magazine, Ball told the court at the time:

“It got so bad that I thought it would be better for us not to be together."

In her Sunday morning interview, Lucie reflected on the exact moment she and her brother learned that their parents' marriage was over:

“We were at their house in Palm Springs, and they said that, ‘We love each other, but the being-husband-and-wife part is broken. And we can’t live together anymore.'” “And 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 added. “And they said, ‘I don’t think so.'”

She did admit that her parents were “happier” after they parted ways:

“The truth of it is, they were happier after they got divorced,” she admitted. “The screaming and the arguing and all that stuff stopped.”

She also revealed that growing up, she was very protective of her father's public standing:

"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."

Ball was subjected to intense backlash for her former husband's affairs, and in her posthumous autobiography Love, Lucy, she conceded to having sought out a psychiatrist's help. She reportedly sat for three-hour-long sessions at a time while experiencing a "mild nervous breakdown."

“I was trying to be a good trouper, a good neighbor, and sister and wife. I was trying as hard as I could, but everything seemed to be going wrong and everyone was blaming me," she wrote in the book.

Biographer Bart Andrews later told People Magazine in 1991:

“They were just going through a routine for the children. She told me that for the last five years of their marriage, it was ‘just booze and broads.’”

Desi Arnaz went on to marry his family friend, Edith Mack Hirschin, in 1963. They were married until she died in 1985. Arnaz died in 1986 at age 69. Ball tied the knot with Gary Morton, a comedian, in 1962, and they remained married until she passed away in April 1989 at the age of 77.

In a 1991 cover story for People Magazine, Lillian Briggs Winograd, a friend of the late couple, reflected on their tumultuous relationship. She recalled spending time with Ball when Desi Arnaz died and pointed out that despite his cheating, she loved him:

"At the end, we drove down to Del Mar, where she went to see Desi a few days before he died [of lung cancer on Dec. 2, 1986]. She was very, very shook-up. She left that place and broke down and said, 'That was the one love…' "

Bob Weiskopf, a writer for the two, told the outlet in 1991:

"Basically, Desi’s attitude was, 'What the hell’s the matter? I love her. When I go out with women, they’re usually hookers. Those don’t count.' "

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