"What happened to George Lopez and ex-wife Ann Serano? Comedian’s wife saved his life before the divorce"

Most people split assets in a divorce. George Lopez? He walked away with his ex-wife’s kidney. The comedian and his former wife, Ann Serrano, were married for 17 years, but even the ultimate act of love—donating a vital organ—wasn’t enough to keep them together. Their divorce was finalized in 2010, five years after she gave him one of her kidneys in a life-saving transplant.

Lopez suffers from a genetic disorder that severely damaged his kidneys. In 2005, Serrano stepped up, offering him a second chance at life. At the time, George Lopez was deeply moved, telling People:

“I can’t pay her back, but what I can do is make her as happy as she thought I would when we first got married.”

That promise, however, didn’t age well. Despite their split, reports claim the divorce was amicable. The former couple remained committed to co-parenting their daughter and continuing their work with The Lopez Foundation.

Financial details of the divorce were kept under wraps, but let’s just say Lopez may have owed more than just a kidney’s worth of gratitude. The two never listed an official separation date, making the split as unusual as their relationship itself.

George Lopez, who was hosting Lopez Tonight at the time, may have had plenty of jokes, but one thing’s for sure—his marriage ended in a way that even Hollywood couldn’t script.

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George Lopez's relationship with his daughter Mayan Lopez

George Lopez and his daughter Mayan Lopez have had a relationship as unpredictable as his comedy—sometimes tense, sometimes heartwarming, and now, professionally intertwined.

Mayan hasn’t been shy about calling out her father’s role in their family’s split. She has openly admitted that it was his actions—reportedly including an extramarital affair—that created a rift when he and Ann Serrano divorced, reported US Weekly. In an interview, she said:

"Him abandoning me in a time after the divorce, and it was really public, and divorce is hard enough, but to have people making opinions about your family even for decades after is not easy on a 15-year-old."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayan found a unique way to process her family drama—by turning it into TikTok content. With her theater training from Chicago’s famed Second City, she had the comedic chops to make light of her strained relationship with George, joking about their history to millions of viewers. Some of her videos got so real that even her mom, Ann, wasn’t thrilled—especially when Mayan started twerking upside down on camera.

Now, the father-daughter duo has taken their dynamic from TikTok to television with Lopez vs. Lopez, an NBC sitcom that mirrors their real-life ups and downs. But working together came with an unexpected twist: George’s ex-wife Ann Serrano, ever the supportive mom, often accompanied Mayan to set.

"The idea of taking your daughter to work is okay. But then, your ex-wife goes along for the ride, it's a little bit touchy."

George Lopez quipped at the show’s red carpet premiere. He admitted that despite years apart, Ann’s presence still brought a natural push-pull that he tried to avoid. George Lopez may have built his career on family-centric comedy, but Lopez vs. Lopez proves that sometimes, the real-life punchlines write themselves.