In his 50 years in the public eye, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made headlines for a myriad of reasons. In 2011, came out the biggest scandal associated with the athlete-turned-actor to date. Schwarzenegger went through a very public divorce when he separated from his ex-wife Maria Shriver.
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The reason behind their divorce followed the bodybuilding legend for a very long time. He admitted he had fathered a child with his housekeeper, Mildred Baena. For Schwarzenegger, the divorce was his biggest failure.
Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up about his divorce
Back in 2015, Schwarzenegger appeared on the Howard Stern Show. Here, they discussed the former politician’s divorce at length, getting into Schwarzenegger’s perspective of the incident. He revealed that his split with Shriver was the lowest point of his life.
“I had personal setbacks, but this was, without any doubt, the biggest setback and the biggest failure. Without any doubt. Not only failure, but you feel like, ‘I’m to blame for it. It was me that screwed up.’ And you can’t point the finger at anyone else,” Schwarzenegger said.
The seven-time Mr. Olympia title holder admitted that it is easier to look back at mistakes and condemn them. “Always easy to be smart in hindsight,” he said. He and Shriver tried out therapy while going through the divorce, at her insistence. But for Schwarzenegger, therapy was not the answer.
“I know I screwed up. I don’t have to go through anyone, to have him explain to me anything.” He continued, “I apologized to Maria. I apologized to the kids.” At his lowest point, he took inventory of the most valuable aspects of his life and made amends with his family first and foremost.
Schwarzenegger’s baby out of wedlock
From the very beginning, Arnold Schwarzenegger has been upfront about his mistakes and owned up to them. But the ‘Terminator’ star only found out about his illegitimate son years later, when the boy was eight.
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His son’s name is Joseph Baena, and Schwarzenegger has a good relationship with him. While the situation was tough for both Joseph and Schwarzenegger’s four kids with his wife, the actor found their understanding and patience.
Congratulations Joseph! Four years of hard work studying business at Pepperdine and today is your big day! You have earned all of the celebration and I’m so proud of you. I love you! pic.twitter.com/aRuJzGzAWi
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) April 27, 2019
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The father-son duo has been spotted out and about on various occasions and maintain a loving and supportive relationship. Schwarzenegger even posted pictures with Baena on his graduation, writing, “Congratulations Joseph! Four years of hard work studying business at Pepperdine and today is your big day! You have earned all of the celebration and I’m so proud of you. I love you!”
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