Share

Arnie: Maid affair was stupidest thing

Sacramento - Arnold Schwarzenegger says the affair he had with his family's longtime housekeeper was "the stupidest thing" he ever did to then-wife Maria Shriver and caused great pain to her and their four children.

"I think it was the stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship. It was terrible. I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids," Schwarzenegger said of the affair that led to a son, who is now 14.

The former Republican governor of California made the comments in an interview with 60 Minutes that is scheduled to air on Sunday, as the one-time Mr Universe and Hollywood action star tries to rebrand himself and promote his new autobiography, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story.

CBS aired excerpts of the interview on Friday.

Embarrassing public revelations

After leaving the governor's office in January 2011, Schwarzenegger, 65, has launched an effort to redeem his reputation in the wake of the embarrassing public revelations about the affair he had with Mildred Baena, a housekeeper who reportedly worked for the family for 20 years.

Their son, Joseph, was born just days after Schwarzenegger's youngest child with Shriver.

Baena listed her former husband as the father on the birth certificate and has said she did not know for certain who the father was until the boy began looking more and more like Schwarzenegger.

The 60 Minutes interview comes a week after Schwarzenegger launched a think tank at the University of Southern California, the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy.

He started it in part, he said, because he accomplished only about half of what he set out to do as governor.

Shriver has not read his book

Schwarzenegger has also returned to his acting career, appearing most recently in The Expendables 2 and the forthcoming The Tomb, co-starring Sylvester Stallone, and The Last Stand, which opens in January.

Shriver, a member of the politically powerful Kennedy clan, filed for divorce in July. In a separate excerpt of the 60 Minutes interview released by CBS earlier this week, Schwarzenegger said Shriver has not read his book.

"I think that Maria is, you know, wishing me well in everything I do," Schwarzenegger said.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE