Arnold Schwarzenegger spoke out about that 1996 affair with his housekeeper Mildred Baena in his tell-all new Netflix documentary, “Arnold”.
Schwarzenegger admitted Shriver was left “crushed” after finding out he’d fathered Joseph, now 25, with Baena, The Sun reported.
Shriver confronted Schwarzenegger about the rumours during a therapy session in 2011.
Schwarzenegger recalled, “One day, the counsellor said, ‘Today Maria wants to be very specific about something… She wants to know if you’re the father of Joseph.’
“I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth.
“‘Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son.’ She was obviously crushed by that.”
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The former Governor of California admitted that after the 1996 affair, Baena continued to work for the family.
It was first thought that the housekeeper’s husband, Rogelio, was Joseph’s father.
Schwarzenegger — who married Shriver in 1986 — 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?’”
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Schwarzenegger and Shriver — who announced their split in 2011, but didn’t finalize their divorce until 2021 — also share daughters Katherine, 33, Christina, 31, and sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 25, together.
Schwarzenegger said the affair was his biggest “failure,” but insisted he has a close relationship with his kids.
He said, “I have caused enough pain for my family, because of my f**k-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.”
