Maria Shriver has released her new book of poetry, I Am Maria. Among other things, in this book, she has opened up about how her divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger left her broken for a really long time. She detailed how devastating it was, especially the former California Governor’s affair with their housekeeper, that ultimately led to the split.
Shriver, now 69, exchanged vows with Arnold back in 1986. For the next 25 years, she was married to the bodybuilder-turned-actor, finally signing the divorce papers in 2021.
In I Am Maria, the former news anchor talked about her first impression of Schwarzenegger: “Thirty-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger looked and sounded different from anyone I’d ever met. My attraction to him was instantaneous.”
The two had a picture-perfect marriage life in front of the media. However, back at home, Shriver was soon to come face to face with Arnold’s shocking affair with their housekeeper, Mildred Baena. The former California governor kept his relationship with Baena a secret. He also had a son with her named Joseph. Maria finally came to know this in 2011 when she directly confronted the housekeeper inside their home. Baena admitted to sleeping with Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Recalling the devastating moment, Shriver detailed her heartache in her book. She wrote, “It broke my heart, it broke my spirit, it broke what was left of me.”
“I was consumed with grief and wracked with confusion, anger, fear, sadness, and anxiety. I was unsure now of who I was and where I belonged. Honestly, it was brutal, and I was terrified.
The author added, “As I sat on my hotel room floor in the dark, alone with tears streaming down my face, I thought to myself: Maria, this doesn’t have to be the end of you.” Maria confessed that there was a time when she accepted any help that came her way just to move on and heal from the brutal divorce. She admitted tracking down “various therapists, healers, shamans, and psychics” during this time.
A story of heartbreak, healing, and finding your way home. I’m so excited to share my story in “I Am Maria,” on sale April 1st. Preorder your copy now and get your tickets to see me on tour at https://t.co/GH2kY8Bf8C #iammaria pic.twitter.com/BGpddgundZ
— Maria Shriver (@mariashriver) March 12, 2025
While Maria Shriver talked about the heartbreak she got from Arnold, the movie star himself confessed how he felt when he first broke the news to his ex-wife. In the 2023 Netflix docuseries Arnold, he said, “Maria and I went to counseling once a week. 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 also confessed that his affair with Baena began in 1996, 10 years after his marriage with Maria and one year before Joseph was born. “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 you keep this quiet. How do you keep this a secret?” Schwarzenegger said. He admitted that even years later, he continues to feel reluctant to talk about this as it wounds him whenever he opens up.
“I think that I have caused enough pain for my family because of my f— up. Everyone had to suffer. Maria had to suffer. The kids had to suffer. Joseph. His mother. Everyone,” Arnold acknowledged his wrongdoings, adding that this is something he would have “to live with for the rest of his life.”
“People will remember my successes, and they will also remember my failures. This is a major failure. I had failures in the past in my career, but this is a whole different ballgame, dimension of failure,” the former California lawmaker expressed his earnest regret in the Netflix docuseries.
