Arnold Schwarzenegger Recalls Day He Told ‘Crushed’ Wife about Affair That Ruined His Family but Gave Him a Son

• In his new Netflix docuseries, “Arnold,” the “Predator” star recalled the time he told his wife about his affair with their housekeeper.
• The news of his affair surfaced about a decade after it began, confirming that Schwarzenegger had a son out of wedlock.
• His illegitimate son, Joseph Baena, has a muscular frame like his father and has worked as an actor in a few movies.

From gaining popularity as a bodybuilder to doing super-hit movies and finally starting a successful political career, Arnold Schwarzenegger has lived his life to the fullest. However, a recent Netflix docuseries, “Arnold,” revealed some moments from his life hidden from the world.

Years after meeting Maria Shriver for the first time, Schwarzenegger tied the knot with her in 1986. The couple welcomed their first child three years later and had three more children in the following years.

While people thought the “Terminator” actor was living the perfect life raising his children while enjoying a successful career, something had happened behind closed doors that the man didn’t open up about until 2011.

In the docuseries, Schwarzenegger revealed how he told his wife about his affair with Mildred Baena, their housekeeper of about 20 years. He also confessed to having a son, Joseph Baena, with Mildred.

It was a regular day for the couple when they went to their weekly counseling session. Over there, the counselor asked Schwarzenegger a shocking question he had to answer truthfully.

“She wants to know if you are the father of Joseph,” the counselor asked him a question on his wife’s behalf. Shriver wanted to find out if her husband was the father of their housekeeper’s child. He recalled:

“I thought my heart stopped, and then I told the truth.”

Hearing the life-changing question was a shock, but Schwarzenegger answered it honestly. He said that his confession about fathering Joseph “crushed” Shriver.

According to Schwarzenegger, he did not know that Joseph was his son. He realized it when he saw Joseph grow up and become like him. However, he also accepted that this part of his life made his family “suffer.” His wife soon filed for divorce, which was finalized in 2021.

Schwarzenegger’s affair with Mildred began in 1996 when he had allegedly stayed back while his wife and kids went on vacation. A year later, Joseph was born, but the actor did not know it was his child.

As time passed, it became clear to him that Joseph was his son, but he did not tell the world about it until 2011, when the LA Times covered the news.

After Schwarzenegger’s second term as the governor of California ended in 2011, he told his wife about his affair. He understood how his confession would hurt his family and took “full responsibility” for it.

Prior to the confession, Mildred left her job after serving the family for about two decades. She said she wanted to reach the 20-year mark before retiring from her position.

While Schwarzenegger requested people to respect his family’s privacy and keep them away from hurtful remarks, his wife left their residence, which made people think the affair caused their separation.

When LA Times broke the news on their website, they did not mention Mildred or Joseph’s names. Their decision to respect Mildred’s privacy divided netizens into two groups.

One group said the news outlet should have named the woman and her child because she “deserves to be exposed” after having an affair with Schwarzenegger. Meanwhile, others believed the news outlet did the right thing. They thought people should not ask for the child’s name because it would hurt his reputation in the long term.

Schwarzenegger treats Joseph like his four children with Shriver, but a source claims the kids “don’t love” the child born out of wedlock. The actor was recently seen with his kids at the premiere of “FUBAR.”

While Joseph walked the red carpet alone, his two half-sisters posed with their superstar father. Joseph posted a photo from the event on his Instagram with a caption to support his loving dad:

“I give FUBAR a 2 thumbs up!!! Had an amazing time last night at the FUBAR premier!”

His Instagram bio says, “Acting, DJing, Fitness, etc.” but some people might think he inherited the muscular body from his bodybuilder father. Not everyone knows Joseph follows a fixed workout routine, and his father helped him with the initial training.

Joseph admitted that his father is his inspiration when it comes to bodybuilding, but he had no idea about his true paternity until he turned 13. He recalled when the world learned about Schwarzenegger’s child with his housekeeper. He was still in his classroom when his mother came to pick him up. She said:

“We gotta go—everyone is finding out about you and who your father is.”

Learning about his mother’s affair with Schwarzenegger was an unexpected experience for the then-teenager, but Joseph did not let his circumstances stop him from achieving big things. Alongside building his body, he has appeared in the movies “Chariot” and “Bully High.”