Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed he still loves his ex-wife Maria Shriver but doesn’t want to miss out on marrying her in a candid new conversation with The Hollywood Reporter.
The Terminator icon, 75, split from journalist Shriver, 67, in 2011 after it emerged he had fathered a son – Joseph Baena, now 25 – with housekeeper, Mildred Baena.
Their divorce was finalized in 2021 and the couple has since forged a strong co-parenting relationship for the sake of their four children.
When asked if he missed the wedding, the Hollywood legend replied, “No. [The divorce] was very difficult in the beginning. Eventually you move on. I have a great girlfriend [physical therapist] Heather Milligan, who is very successful. I’m really proud of her, and I love her.
He expressed his lasting admiration for his ex-wife of 25 years, adding, “At the same time, I love my wife.” She and I are really good friends and very close, and we are very proud of the way we have raised our children. Even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mother’s Day together, Christmas together, all the birthdays – everything together.
Emotional: Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed he still loves his ex-wife Maria Shriver but doesn’t want to miss out on marrying her in a candid new conversation with The Hollywood Reporter
Happier times: Schwarzenegger’s 25-year marriage to Shriver, 67, imploded in 2011 when it emerged he had fathered a son — Joseph Baena, now 25 — with housekeeper, Mildred Baena (the couple pictured in 2003)
“If there are Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for least impact on the kids. The softness and kindness you see in it comes from my wife. The discipline and work ethic comes from me.’
Elsewhere in the chat, the star revealed his plans to “stay on this side of the grass” and “live forever” – saying he trains every day alongside his busy acting career and has no plans to retire.
Shriver and Schwarzenegger married in 1986, nearly nine years after they first met. They separated in 2011 and finalized their divorce in 2021.
Joseph Baena was born on October 2, 1997, just a few days after Shriver gave birth to the couple’s fourth child, Christopher.
The couple had no prenuptial agreement, but according to TMZ at the time, “there was never any real custody” and “both quickly agreed on joint custody.”
They had an estimated $400 million at the time of their divorce.
In February, Shriver described her struggles with her ex-husband’s stardom and how the impact of their divorce caused her to turn to a Reverend Mother in a convent in hopes of feeling less “invisible.”
After their divorce, Maria turned to a nun as she could not cope with the collapse of her relationship.
Moving on: Arnold is now in a long-term relationship with Heather Milligan – who he said he loves and is very proud of (pictured January 2023)
Proud co-parenting: Maria and Arnold married in 1986. They have four children together: Katherine, 32, Christina, 30, Patrick, 28, and Christopher, 24
Son: The star is depicted with son Joseph, whom he fathered while marrying Mary
The Hollywood and political power couple may have had a perfect facade, but inside Maria felt more alone than ever because of her ex-husband’s elite status.
In an episode of podcast Making space with Hoda Kotb, the journalist revealed that she took advice from a convent to find peace and give herself “permission” to be vulnerable.
The Today special anchor explained that she was looking for “guidance” and wanted to be “silence” after the divorce.
She added that while she has written about her experience before, she never “shared” it, before detailing what the Reverend Mother told her that gave her the strength she needed to find herself.
After revealing that she had gone to a “monastery,” the journalist said she was given “permission” to “be weak.”
The journalist said that the Reverend Mother told her, “I think you came here to ask permission.”
Maria added that she felt like she was in a scene from The Sound Of Music.
While in the convent, she was told, “You can’t come and live here…but you are allowed to go out and become Mary.”
For the first time in her life, Maria felt a little less invisible and began to ‘sob’.
“I never gave myself permission to — feel, be vulnerable, be weak, be brought to my knees. And the world did it to me. And then I thought, “OK, God, let’s go,” Maria said.
Due to her ex-husband’s fame, Maria explained that she often felt she was living in the shadows.
And it wasn’t the first time the Emmy-winning journalist had felt the frustrations of being in the spotlight, as the late President John F. Kennedy’s niece said growing up in a family that was the center of public attention. her insecure feeling.
Shriver and Schwarzenegger were the ‘it’ couple for nearly 25 years, but they legally separated in 2021 (Maria and Arnold pictured on their wedding day in 1986)
Political animal: The star attended the Austrian World Summit on Tuesday – pictured with Leonore Gewessler, Heather and Alexander van der Bellen
Climate activist: The star shared snaps of his visit to Instagram
“I grew up feeling invisible in an incredibly public, famous family. There were a lot of really great characters in that family,’ Maria said.
Schwarzenegger recently reflected on his hard breakup with Shriver and causing “hurt” to his family in a first trailer for his new Netflix documentary, Arnold – due out June 7.
The acting icon’s rise from his humble beginnings in rural Austria to Hollywood action man will be chronicled in the three-part series due out June 7 – with The Terminator star reflecting on turbulent times in his personal life.
A pensive Schwarzenegger seemed to allude to the fraud scandal, saying, “People will remember my successes, but they’ll also remember those failures.”
‘It was very hard, for my marriage, for my relationship with my children.