Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Reflection on His Divorce After Fathering a Child with Their Housekeeper

Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed his satisfaction with how he and his former wife, Maria Shriver, handled their separation in 2011. This separation followed the revelation that the former bodybuilder had fathered a child with their housekeeper. Despite their challenges, Schwarzenegger and Shriver navigated the difficult situation with grace and dignity.

It wasn’t easy.

During a recent interview, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the celebrated “Terminator” star, offered his reflections on his separation from his former spouse, Maria Shriver.

The couple had been married for 25 years before news of Schwarzenegger’s infidelity sent shockwaves through their relationship. Despite their challenges, the 75-year-old actor shared that “eventually, you move on” from such difficult situations.

He also acknowledged that the initial period following their divorce was “very, very difficult in the beginning.”

He wishes he had informed his wife about the affair and the love child.

In his 2012 autobiography, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, Schwarzenegger wrote, “The minute we sat down, the therapist turned to me and said ’Maria wanted to come here today and to ask about a child — whether you fathered a child with your housekeeper Mildred.’ I told the therapist, ’It’s true.’”

In a moment of reflection, Arnold Schwarzenegger acknowledged that he should have told his wife about his secret long ago. As he wrote, “Instead of doing the right thing, I’d just put the truth in a mental compartment and locked it up where I didn’t deal with it every day.”

It took them a decade to finalize the divorce.

Maria Shriver filed for divorce soon after confronting Arnold Schwarzenegger during a marriage counseling session. Despite this, the couple did not finalize their divorce until December 2021. Separating after 25 years of marriage is never easy, as Schwarzenegger himself has acknowledged.

The separation had a minimal effect on their children.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has expressed his belief that he and his former wife, Maria Shriver, deserve recognition for handling the derailment of their marriage while raising their four children together. “The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that’s from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me,” he said.

He thinks he and Maria deserve an award for how maturely they handled the separation.

In his own words, “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. The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that’s from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me.”

They are still friends.

He noted that they are “really good friends and very close,” a testament to the strength of their bond even after their divorce.

"We are very proud of the way we raised our kids. Even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mother’s Day together, the Christmases together, all birthdays — everything together,’ he added.

As we continue to navigate the complexities of relationships, Arnold’s story reminds us that sometimes the only way to move forward is to let go and start anew. And that divorce is always better than staying in an unhealthy marriage.