Arnold Schwarzenegger's marriage 'destroyed' by maid affair and new girlfriend

27 October 2023 , 19:00

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Arnold Schwarzenegger's marriage 'destroyed' by maid affair and new girlfriend

World-renowned bodybuilder turned government official to donkey owner Arnold Schwarzenegger is set to join the sofa of the legendary Graham Norton Show this evening. The 76-year-old will be seated alongside comedian Jack Whitehall, Oscar winner Dame Judi Dench, The Repair Shop host Jay Blades and pop rock icons Duran Duran to a live crowd.

The last time actor appeared on the evening show was back in 2019, and tonight's episode, he is set to discuss his rivalry with Sylvester Stallone. The Terminator said: "We were movie rivals, but we took the competitiveness to the extreme. We each had to have the best body, we had to kill more people in our films, and we had to have the biggest guns. It got out of control, and we tried to derail each other."

Over the past decades that Arnold has been on our screens, the star has been riddled with drama when it comes to his personal life. Here's a look at some of the actor's romantic twists before we tune in for tonight...

Arnie has been in some huge movies over the years (CBS via Getty Images)

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Romance with Barbara Outland

Austrian-born Arnold moved to the US in 1968, and a short while later he met beautiful college student Barbara and the pair started a relationship a year later. According to The Telegraph, Arnold and Barbara used to barbecue and hang out at the beach while living a casual life in Santa Monica, but due to his passion for bodybuilding their romance didn't last.

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In a chat with the British broadsheet, Barbara spoke of the breakdown of their relationship when she said: "I was in his shadow... I just wanted to get married and have children. "But he was someone with so much focus, nothing could get in his way."

Arnold and Barbara broke up in 1975 after six years of being together, with the actor spilling about their split in his 1977 memoir. In his book he said: "Basically it came down to this: she was a well-balanced woman who wanted an ordinary, solid life, and I was not a well-balanced man and hated the very idea of ordinary life."

Open relationship with hairdresser

He was in an "open relationship" for a short while (Getty Images)

Following his split from Barbara, Arnold remained single for a short while before meeting Sue Moray in 1977. The actor and the then-25-year-old hairdresser agreed to be in an open relationship, with the Hollywood-based hair stylist spilling on their arrangement more than a decade ago in 2011.

Sue told The Sunday Times : "When he was in town, he would be committed to me and I would live with him and go to work from his house. But when he was out of town, we were free to do whatever we wanted and to date anyone else we wanted." Their arrangement was apparently a "turn on" for the two lovers, with them remaining in their open relationship for around four years before he crossed paths with Maria Shriver.

Marriage to Maria Shriver and alleged affairs

After asking to marry her on two separate occasions, Maria didn't say yes until 1985

While dating Sue, Arnold met Maria, who was 21 years of age at the time. In the 80s, Arnold was taking the film industry by storm with his starring roles in The Terminator and Conan the Barbarian, and it was around this time that rumours circulated that while dating Maria he slept with other women.

While filming 1985 movie Red Sonja, Arnold - who played Lord Kalidor in the hit film - had an affair with Brigitte Nielsen who played the leading role. The actor even confirmed the affair in a 2012 interview with CNN, with the admission being one of the two affairs he has admitted to.

The couple welcomed four children together

But despite his affair with Brigitte and the other alleged romances, it didn't stop Maria and Arnold from getting married, with other rumours of extra-marital affairs sprinkled throughout their marriage and beyond. Although Maria turned down Arnold when he proposed to her on two separate occasions, in August 1985 when the couple visited his hometown in Austria, she said yes and the pair were to be wed. Tying the knot in 1986, the couple welcomed their first child three years later, a daughter named Katherine Eunice. In the 1990s they then welcomed another daughter and two sons: Christina Maria Aurelia (born in 1991), Patrick Arnold (born in 1993), and Christopher Sargent (born in 1997).

Affair with housekeeper and secret son

Arnold admitted to having an affair with Mildred Baena, with them even welcoming a son

The biggest drama in Arnie's love life came in 1996, when he had a second affair that he later admitted to having. The family housekeeper, Mildred Baena fell pregnant and welcomed a child five days after Maria's son Christopher was born.

At the time, nobody knew that Mildred's son was actually Arnold's child, or that Christopher was his half-brother. But as Mildred's son Joseph grew up, she noticed that he looked a lot like the famous actor she had an affair with months prior to welcoming her son. It wasn't until 2010 when Joseph was 13 that he learned who his biological dad was, which came when the media announced it.

Separation from Maria and subsequent divorce

Maria filed for divorce from Arnold after he confirmed his affair with Mildred (AFP)

Following Arnold coming clean about his affair with the housekeeper in 2011, Maria filed for divorce from the bodybuilder after 25 years of marriage. The news of his affair with housekeeper Mildred Baena was the final straw for Shriver, who ultimately wanted her children to be protected from media scrutiny.

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The couple were separated for almost a decade before their divorce was officially finalised in December 2021. Just last summer in June 2022, a jury ruled that Maria was entitled to half of her ex-husband's post-divorce savings that he earned from 1986 to 2011, including a pension.

During the documentary trailer, Arnold, potentially alluding to the cheating scandal that reportedly broke up his marriage, said: "It was very tough on my marriage, on my relationships with the kids. He further commented: "I have caused enough pain for my family. I'm going to have to live with it the rest of my life."

Loved up with Heather Milligan since 2013

Arnold and Heather are thought to have been dating since around 2013 (Getty Images)

The couple have remained loved up (WireImage)

Arnold has been in a relationship with Heather, a physical therapist, since 2013 when they were spotted smooching up a storm in Santa Monica. Despite having a 28-year age gap, the pair have remained loved up for a decade, with them holidaying regularly and spotted in each other's company on the regular.

Last September (2022), the couple were snapped drinking beers and enjoying the 187th Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. Dressed in traditional brown embroidered leather outfits while spending time in the Marstall Tent in Theresienwiese, the pair were all smiles as they beamed for the snaps.

The Graham Norton Show airs tonight on BBC One at 10:40pm.

Mollie Quirk