Arnold Schwarzenegger Talks Love Child Joseph Baena, Divorce And Son Dating Miley Cyrus

by Olivia Truffaut-WongJune 25, 2015, 6:16 pmNews, News Feed >

Arnold Schwarzenegger opened up about his split from Maria Shriver, his son Joseph Baena with his former housekeeper, and how he felt about his son Patrick Schwarzenegger dating Miley Cyrus.

Arnold Schwarzenegger On Love Child Joseph Baena

Schwarzenegger paid a visit to The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday to promote his new film, Terminator Genisys, but the former California Governor also touched on his highly publicized divorce from Shriver. In 2011, news broke that Schwarzenegger had fathered a son, Joseph Baena, with the family’s former housekeeper, Mildred Baena. Shriver immediately moved out of the family home and the couple split up. Years later, Schwarzenegger admitted that he sees his divorce as his “biggest failure.”

“This was, without any doubt, the biggest setback and the biggest failure… Not only failure, but you really feel like, ‘I’m to blame for it, it was me that screwed up.’ And you can’t point the finger at anybody else,” he told Howard Stern.

Schwarzenegger said he had accepted his role in his divorce, and said that he and Shriver attempted to see a marriage counselor to help them figure out how to move forward in the wake of his affair and secret love child Joseph Baena. When asked about any therapy or treatment, Schwarzenegger was quick to dismiss marriage counseling.

“It was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. That guy was so full of s—t. …It was absolutely counterproductive to our future relationship,” Schwarzenegger said.

Schwarzenegger added that he went into marriage counseling already knowing he had to apologize for his actions. “Maria talked me into it. I went, and I felt instinctively maybe I shouldn’t go because I know I screwed up. I don’t have to go through anyone to have to explain to me anything. I apologized to Maria. I apologized to the kids,” he said.

Schwarzenegger did say that he isn’t against therapy or counseling, but noted that it wasn’t for him. Instead, he credits his family’s ability to stick together for getting through that tough time. “And, you know, it has worked out really so well with the help from Maria, with the help of the kids, but not because of the shrink or because of some psychiatrist,” he said.

Arnold Schwarzenegger On Joseph Baena, His Children

Schwarzenegger gushed over his children, saying that they were incredibly generous and forgiving and willing to work with him through the scandal and divorce. The 67-year-old actor has four children with Shriver: Patrick, 21, Christopher, 17, Katherine, 25, and Christina, 23.

“My kids are straight 10. I am so proud of them, and I’m so in love with them – I love my kids so much,” the Terminator star said, adding that Shriver and their four children surprised him with balloons and gifts for the Berlin premiere of Terminator Genisys.

When asked by Stern how he went about repairing his relationship with his children after what the actor called a “complicated bump” and “screw up,” Schwarzenegger credited his kids and his estranged wife. “I had a lot of conversations with them, but I think the only way it happens is if all of you work together. So, my wife was helpful, the kids were helpful, people around were helpful and I tried to be as helpful as I could throughout the whole thing. I was one of the fortunate ones that we have really great, great kids,” he said.

Schwarzenegger added that his fifth child, his son Joseph, has also been very understanding, saying, “He is terrific and he totally understands the situation. It all has worked out really well. It’s a very tough situation for him. It’s a very tough situation for my kids, a very tough situation for my family. It’s tough for everybody, but it has happened and now we have to kind of figure it out.”

Anrold Schwarzenegger Calls Miley Cyrus “A Fantastic Person”

Schwarzenegger and Shriver have yet to finalize their divorce, and all the Schwarzenegger children, including Joseph, have kept a relatively low profile in the press. One of his sons, Patrick, made headlines recently when he dated Miley Cyrus. Stern also didn’t miss the opportunity to ask the former Governor about his thoughts on the sometimes controversial pop star, and Schwarzenegger had only positive things to say on the subject.

“[When] I did meet Miley Cyrus, when she came up to Sun Valley skiing during the holidays, I found out that she was a fantastic person,” Schwarzenegger said.

He added that Cyrus would spend time playing with the young children on the family trip, buying them gifts and spending time with them in the snow. “She was a wonderful person. That she has this career side, where she has to be a little bit out there, and maybe is a little bit different because she grew up in a music family. So what? It didn’t bother me. I think Patrick had a wonderful experience, he had a great relationship and then the whole thing eventually fell apart,” he added.

In the interview, Schwarzenegger also dished on his elaborate and extravagant house parties – he loves having exotic animals present to make a party stand out – his time as governor and a possible Twins sequel.

Terminator Genisys hits theaters on July 1.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.