Arnold Schwarzenegger's biggest revelation about relationship with Maria Shriver confessed in new Netflix documentary

The Terminator star's marriage to Maria ended after he admitted to an affair and fathering a child as a result


Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shjriver after givigng his inaugural address as after being sworn in as California's 38th Governor during a ceremony at the State Capitol in Sacramento
On 7 June 2023

Arnold Schwarzenegger, after nearly 50 years of fame – his bodybuilding career began in the 1960s and his work in movies the following decade – is ready to relive it all.

The actor and former California governor is headed to the silver screen again in a far more intimate way, through a three-part docu-series titled Arnold on his "multifaceted life and career," out on Netflix Wednesday, June 7.

From his time as a bodybuilding champion, to becoming a Hollywood legend, and even a politician, no topic was off limits for the Terminator star, even his relationship with his ex-wife, Maria Shriver.

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Arnold and Maria first met in 1977, when he was asked to appear at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Tennis Tournament, which was attended by various members of the Kennedy family, including Maria's mom Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who was the late R​FK and John F. Kennedy's sister.

In the documentary, Arnold revealed that it was his ex-wife's late mom who introduced them at the event, recalling that his former mother-in-law "came up to me and said, 'It's so good to have you here. By the way, this is my daughter Maria Shriver.'"

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He then went on to confess the shocking thing he told the Kennedy matriarch after she told him that her daughter was 'really fond' of him, revealing he boldly told her: "Well, your daughter has a really nice ass. I have to tell you that."

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Arnold and Maria at a Barry Manilow concert after party in 1978

Of the rather explicit compliment, he now admitted in the docu: "What a stupid thing to say. I don't even know why I said it."

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Later in the Netflix series, he went on to give much sweeter insight into the beginning of his relationship with Maria, as he said: "I really fell in love with Maria, not because she was a Kennedy but because she had an extraordinary personality. I could see that little rebel in her. I wanted to escape from Austria, she also wanted to escape. That was the beginning of Maria and I."

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The former couple at the Cannes Film Festival in 2003

After meeting in 1977, Arnold and Maria went on to tie the knot in 1986, and later welcomed four kids together, Katherine, 33, Christina, 31, Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 25. 

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The two are parents-of-four, and have maintained an amicable relationship

They were married for 25 years before in 2011, they separated after Arnold admitted to having an affair with the family's longtime maid, Mildred Baena, and that 14 years prior in 1996, their affair resulted in the birth of Arnold's fifth child, son Joseph Baena.

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Arnold and Joseph have since developed a close bond over the years

The two at the time continued to have an amicable relationship, as they do now, and they finalized their divorce ten years after they first filed, in December of 2021.

In the documentary, Arnold also opened up about when he first admitted to his ex-wife that he had had an affair – and fathered a child – a conversation he revealed happened during couple's therapy.

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Joseph attended the recent FUBAR premiere in support of his dad

He recalled: "Maria and I went to counseling once a week, 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."

Arnold later added: "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. I love him and he has turned out to be an extraordinary young man."

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