Roseanne Barr's Ex Attacked Her for 'Lies' While She Tries to Enjoy 'Quiet Life' with Her Private Lover

Actress Roseanne Barr suffered three failed unions before she found the love of her life. Her marriage to her second husband, Tom Arnold, ended in a nasty divorce that saw her part with a whopping $50 million in spousal support payments. Despite their two-decades-old divorce, Arnold has not left her in peace and still criticizes her.

Roseanne Barr's character may have had a successful marriage to Dan Conner (played by actor John Goodman) in the timeless series "Roseanne," for all of 10 seasons, but in real life, finding love was not a walk in the park.

She married her first husband Bill Pentland, an executive consultant for "Roseanne" — and former Colorado motel clerk — in 1974, and the pair became parents to three children, Jessica, Jennifer, and Jake.

Sadly, 16 years later, their marriage came crashing down, and the pair went their separate ways. They finalized their divorce on January 16, 1990, and four days later, Barr walked down the aisle with her second husband, comedian Tom Arnold.

Their marriage became a cause for a heated tabloid blaze, but despite the publicity, the pair was inseparable. They worked together on "Roseanne," where Arnold managed her, produced, and even guest-starred on the show. He also reportedly orchestrated every aspect of his wife's life.

His responsibilities fell far beyond a husband's duty to his wife, and he decided what she ate, where she invested her money, and even what cover stories she appeared in. The pair was in love, and Barr confirmed it with her direct admission:

"We can't be apart."

Before they wed, Arnold had been a struggling standup comedian, and in Barr, he saw an opportunity to play manager and push his career forward. On the other hand, Barr considered Arnold her savior, making all the big decisions for her and managing her career. They fitted each other like puzzle pieces, each benefitting immensely from the other. From their eyes, it was a win-win situation, or so they thought.

Their meeting had been purely coincidental and, at the time, forbidden. The year was 1983. Barr was still married to Pentland while Arnold had his girlfriends to worry about, and yet, after meeting Barr, none of that mattered.

Their paths first crossed when Arnold opened a show for Barr in Minnesota. After the show, the pair went out drinking and stayed up all night eating and being all kinds of crazy, a habit that would carry on for the next six years. They would party on the weekends, shop for the same plus-size shirts at the men's stores, and then go on stage as twins in similar clothes.

And for those six years, their relationship thrived but remained non-physical. They never hugged or got intimate in the entire time, and Arnold would even bring his girlfriends to their shows.

However, things soon changed when they discovered they had fallen in love during Barr's 1987 HBO special. For a while, they tried pushing their feelings for each other aside, but on February 12, 1989, they went to see the "Grateful Dead" show and admitted their feelings for each other.

They talked all night and hugged for the first time, and Barr even kissed Arnold on the cheek the following day. They soon consummated their affair in New York, where Barr was filming "She-Devil."

Those around Barr were incredibly wary of Arnold, mainly because when the two were together, they fueled each other's drinking habits. Still, Barr would hear none of it and thought those who advised her against Arnold, including her lawyer Barry Hirsch, her sister Geraldine, and her manager Arlyne Rothberg, were not acting in her best interests.

And Arnold had a solution for her. If she married him, he would protect her from the naysayers. She chose to believe Arnold, and she quickly divorced Pentland and arranged to marry Arnold on January 20, 1990.

The wedding period coincided with other vital events in Barr's life, such as reuniting with her older daughter Brandi, who she'd given up for adoption at birth. Nevertheless, she married Arnold at a wedding with forty guests, including family, friends, and cast members. Soon after, the pair settled well into their married life.

The next four years were filled with bliss for the two, and they went on to work on many projects together. In fact, by 1993, the pair had gotten so disenchanted with show business that they wanted a life away from it all. They bought a property in rural Iowa, intent on building a 25,000 square foot mansion.

They reportedly opened a loose-meat diner in a town nearby, but unbeknownst to them, their marriage, as well as the diner, was about to fall apart. The beginning of the end came in 1994, when the rumor mills began churning reports of Arnold's alleged affair with Kim Silva, his assistant.

The alleged affair became a breaking point for Barr — and the marriage — and in April of that year, the lovebirds had a huge blowup on the set of "Roseanne." Barr fired Arnold from the show, had security ban him from the studio, and cut up his credit cards. Soon after, she filed for divorce.

The split certainly opened a can of worms, and for people that had for years claimed to love each other, things got ugly pretty fast. Barr accused Arnold of abusing her physically during their marriage, accusations she recanted three days after filing for divorce. However, the drama ensued, with Arnold claiming their marriage had been nothing but chaotic.

Arnold claimed that while they had a lot in common, things had gotten crazy because Barr had multiple personality disorder.

Following the end of their four-year union, Barr realized she had made one grave mistake — not signing a prenuptial agreement. She was forced to pay Arnold a lump sum of $50 million in spousal support.

Roseanne Barr’s Ex-husband Still Criticizes Her, Decades After Their Divorce

Despite the ugly divorce, the pair soon moved on, both finding love a year later. Arnold married Julie Lynn Champnella in 1995 and got divorced in 1999.

He then married Shelby Roos in 2002 and parted ways in 2008. In 2009, he married again, walking down the aisle with Ashley Groussman. They were together for 11 years and had two kids before parting ways in 2020.

Barr also found love again, marrying Ben Thomas in 1995. They welcomed a son, Buck, that same year, but unfortunately, the marriage ended in 2002.

The failure of her marriage did not deter her from finding love. The same year she went separate ways with Thomas, she met Johnny Argent and the two began dating in 2003, after a year of phone conversations.

Even though she has been divorced from Arnold for decades, the ghosts of her past have been very present in her life. In 2018, Arnold appeared on Good Morning Britain, accusing Barr of being racist.

When asked what influenced the name-calling, Arnold revealed that his thoughts of her were based on Barr's tweets and social media presence and opinions. He argued that her tweets were offensive and that her support of former US President Donald Trump were a testament of how racist she was.

Arnold felt Barr should quit social media but noted that mental health issues may have played a massive part in her unsavory tweets:

"When we were married, she dealt openly and honestly — our whole family did — with multiple personality disorder. She was honest and courageous about that. So I don't know exactly what's going on. I know there are mental illness issues."

But that would not be the first time Arnold spoke out about Barr. In March 2018, he pitched an idea for the reboot of "Roseanne," saying that the actress should do an episode about the "lies and cruelty" she and the then-president allegedly represented.

Long before Arnold's 2018 Twitter outburst, the couple had gone on a Twitter spat, arguing back and forth after Arnold tweeted that he had cleaned out his garage and dropped off some boxes at Goodwill, including one with his old wedding videos.

Barr asked him to give back the video as it had her kids in it, to which Arnold answered that the people at Goodwill would only charge her a dollar to have it back, with the proceeds going to a good cause.

The feud continued and got ugly when the two began throwing unprintable words at each other, However, to everyone's surprise, they soon calmed down, and the conversation took a turn when Barr asked about Arnold's then-newborn son, Jax, which she thought was cute.

Roseanne Lives a Quiet Colorful Life With Her Long-Time Lover and Spends Plenty of Time With Family

Despite Arnold's dislike for his ex-wife, Barr does not seem very bothered and is instead enjoying a "quiet life" with her love Ardent.

The pair first crossed paths in 2002 after Barr ran a writing competition for her blog. They talked on the phone for a year before they started dating in 2003.

Barr fell in love with Ardent's voice long before they met. She did not care whether he was an amputee, just as long as he had teeth because "teeth are pretty important."

He kept telling her she would be disappointed with his looks and would desist from sending any pictures. Finally, they made plans to meet, and on the day he was to fly in, Barr waited at the airport in a car with a driver. She kept questioning her decision to meet, but when Ardent opened the door, Barr almost lost her mind. She recalled:

"He was the most handsome man I've ever seen."

He was almost like a dream come true. He was tall, chiseled, elegant, and had a beautiful grey mane of lustrous hair. The actress' fears were put to rest, and the rest, as they say, is history.

After such a tumultuous time finding love, Barr finally settled down with Ardent, and she has never been more in love. She has often praised him, and says they are kindred spirits. One of her best activities is talking to him, as she would confess:

"I like to shop, buy cards, I like to take photographs, to grow things, cook, blog, and talk to my boyfriend."

Argent is a composer and writer and has reportedly written and produced some of Barr's projects, including "Comedy Central Roast of Roseanne." The pair now resides in the town of Honokaa on the Big Island of Hawaii in a beautiful 2,212 square-foot home the actress purchased for $1.78 million in 2017.

The home, which features three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms, sits on a 46-acre parcel of land and offers breathtaking views of the sprawling property. The actress has always given her fans a sneak peek into her quiet life and gorgeous sunsets. She also relishes the nature that surrounds her, including her beautiful garden.

She often lets fans in on her life with her beau, sharing their special moments on her Instagram, like when she posted a video of Ardent playing the piano in their living room.

One of her favorite pass times is spending time with her family. Even though they never walked down the aisle, Barr and Ardent have been together for two decades and have built a beautiful life together.

Barr's daughter Jennifer lives a few doors down, and the actress gets to spend plenty of time with her and her kids. She also relishes her role as a grandma and enjoys taking cute photos with her family.

Her Instagram is rife with breathtaking photos of her home, her grandkids and even sometimes the lot having fun at the beach. For someone that been accustomed to the glam and glitz of Hollywood, a laid-back life seems to be doing her good.