Arnold Schwarzenegger is opening up about his life. In a new interview, the actor and politician is discussing a new stage he’s entering: an author of motivational books. This year, he’s releasing, “Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life,” a motivational book filled with some of the lessons he’s learned over his life. In a new interview, he discussed fitness, his kids and grandkids, and his relationship with his ex-wife Maria Shriver.
© GettyImagesIn an interview with PEOPLE, Schwarzenegger was asked about his relationship with Maria Shriver and how the two were handling this new chapter in their lives as they’re now grandparents. “We never left the [first] chapter,” said Schwarzenegger. “Because remember, it’s not like we had a feud. We didn’t have a fight. It’s just my f---up, right? We always made it very clear that the kids should not suffer because of that. And she has her things, her relationship, I have mine, but we always communicate about the kids, about the holidays, about birthday parties and Mother’s Day parties and Christmas.”
“My chapter with Maria will continue on forever. Even though it’s a different relationship, there’s no reason for me to feel anything other than love for her.”
Schwarzenegger also explained the origin of the book title, revealing that the phrase “Be useful” was what his father used to say to him. It’s a relationship that Schwarzenegger has previously discussed, and one that was at times abusive. “I’m not into all this stuff, because I never really blamed my father for anything. I never ran around and said, ‘It’s my father’s fault.’ It’s nobody’s fault. I have fond memories of my dad, and I don’t blame him for anything, simply because he did not know any better,” he said.
© GettyImagesSchwarzenegger and Shriver’s divorce
Schwarzenegger and Shriver’s relationship hit a breaking point in 2011, when she learned of his infidelity and the fact that he had had a son with their housekeeper, Mildred Baena. The affair occurred in 1996, with the infidelity revealed in 2011, while the pair was attending couple’s therapy. Maria and I went to counseling once a week,” said Schwarzenegger in his Netflix docuseries “Arnold.”
“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,” he said. “She was crushed because of that. I had an affair in ’96. In the beginning I really didn’t know. I just started feeling the older he got the more it became clear to me and then it was really just a matter of how do you keep this quiet? How do you keep this a secret?”
Schwarzenegger has five children: Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher, with Shriver, and Joseph Baena, with Baena.
