Arnold Schwarzenegger has opened up about the demise of his marriage and the crushing moment when he told his wife of his secret affair with the housekeeper.
The 75-year-old famously fathered a child with his housekeeper Mildred Baena and she gave birth to their son Joseph in 1997.
The Terminator actor explained that Maraia found out about the affair during a marriage counselling session in 2011.
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The marriage counselor said: “Today Maria wants to be very specific about something.
“Today Maria wants to be very specific about something she wants to know if you’re the father of Joseph.”
(Image: Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)
Arnold said: “I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth. “Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son.” She was obviously crushed by that.”
The star then explained that at first, he presumed that the child belonged to Mildred’s husband Rogelio but things became apparent the older the boy got.
He said: “In the beginning, I really didn’t know, but the older he got, the more it became clear to me.”
“It was then just a matter of, “How do you keep this quiet?”
(Image: WireImage)
Arnold and Maria met in 1977 at a tennis match and the pair were engaged in Austria in 1985.
It didn’t take long before they were married the following year in an extravagant ceremony at the Kennedy family home in Massachusetts.
The actor explained that it was the “biggest wedding I’ve ever been to” and gushed that he felt he was “the luckiest son of a b**** in life.”
The couple had two daughters Katherine and Christina as well as two sons Patrick and Christopher who was born just days before Arnold’s secret son.
(Image: Keystone/Zuma/REX/Shutterstock)
When speaking about the affair Arnold described it as his “biggest failure” he said: “, ‘I have caused enough pain for my family, because of my f***-up.
“Everyone had to suffer. Maria had to suffer, the kids had to suffer, Joseph, his mother, everyone.”
“I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.”
Maria and Arnold got divorced in 2011, the same year that the housekeeper retired.
Following the affair, Mildred left her husband and Schwarzenegger provided for both her and Joseph, purchasing them a home with a pool in California in 2010.
(Image: Joe Scarnici/WireImage)
Arnold said: “People will remember my successes and they will also remember my failures.
“I’ve had failures in my career but this was a whole new dimension of failure. I am very happy within this sad story that Maria and I were able to raise the kids well.”
Arnold spoke very positively of his ex-wife and the memories that they shared.
He said: “I think there’s nothing more important than to have a good partner by your side and, every step of the way, Maria was exactly that.
“We have a really great relationship. On any kind of special day we are all together as a family and everyone is really happy about that.
“It’s not what it was, where we were all together under one roof as a family.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
