Arnold Schwarzenegger admits to causing his entire family pain by having an affair with his housekeeper and fathering her child, in the upcoming docuseries, “Arnold.”
Schwarzenegger recalled the moment he told his ex-wife, Maria Shriver about his infidelity. He informed her during a couples counseling session and it was immediately clear everything was about to change, according to People. The 75-year-old actor said the reason he is “reluctant talking about it is because every time I do it opens up the wounds again,” according to People. I think that I have caused enough pain for my family because of my fuck-up,” he said.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Says Heaven Is a ‘Fantasy’: ‘We Won’t See Each Other Again After We’re Gone’ https://t.co/onHYSKh8t0
— People (@people) June 6, 2023
The docuseries touches on Schwarzenegger’s career in Hollywood, his tenure as the Governor of California, and the scandalous affair that tormented the entire family. His actions also affected the housekeeper he had an affair with, Mildred Baena, and the child they had together, Joseph, who is now 25 years-old, according to People.
“Maria and I went to counseling once a week,” he remembered in the docuseries, “and in one of the sessions the counselor said, ‘I think today Maria wants to be very specific about something. She wants to know if you are the father of Joseph.’ And I was like – I thought my heart stopped, and then I told the truth.”
“Everyone had to suffer. Maria had to suffer. The kids had to suffer. Joseph. His mother. Everyone,” he said in the Netflix docuseries, according to People.
“I am going to have to live with it the rest of my life,” Schwarzenegger said in the trailer for “Arnold.”
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The famous actor and bodybuilder is very aware of the damage he caused, and the severity of his error.
“People will remember my successes and they will also remember my failures. This is a major failure. I had failures in the past in my career, but this is a whole different ball game, dimension of failure,” he said.
Shriver and Schwarzenegger finalized their divorce in December 2021 – a full ten years after they announced they were separated, according to People. Schwarzenegger admitted the divorce was a difficult process, but he is proud of the way he and Shriver have been able to continue to co-parent their children.
“If there’s Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for having the least amount of impact on the kids,” he said, according to People.
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Schwarzenegger addressed Joseph as a “fantastic man” who “makes me proud.” He spoke of the impact the situation had on him and how he has been affected.
“It was wrong what I did. But I don’t want to make Joseph feel that he is not welcomed in this world — because he is very much welcomed in this world,” Schwarzenegger said, according to People.(RELATED: ‘One’s Taste In Partners Gets Better’: Monica Lewinsky Reflects On Affair With Bill Clinton)
“I love him and he has turned out to be an extraordinary young man,” Schwarzenegger said.
“The Terminator” actor and Shriver share four kids: Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher.