Arnold Schwarzenegger admits affair ‘inflicted unbelievable pain’ on Maria Shriver, children

Arnold Schwarzenegger is totally recalling his affair with his family’s maid and the devastation it caused in an interview with “60 Minutes” this Sunday. Talking to CBS’ Lesley Stahl, the former California governor cops to his wrongdoing, which was revealed in May 2011, although he doesn’t exactly apologize for it either.

In a preview clip of the one-on-one, Stahl notes that his wife of 26 years Maria Shriver “gave up her television career” to support his political aspirations, adding, "I mean, wow! Was this just the most unbelievable act of betrayal to Maria?" The “Terminator” actor, 65, admits, “I think it was the stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship. It was terrible. I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids." (The former couple has Katherine, 22, Christina, 21, Patrick, 19, and Christopher, 15, who is about the same age as Schwarzenegger’s love child with maid Mildred Baena, Joseph.)

Schwarzenegger is promoting his October 1 memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, in which he details his rise to fame as a bodybuilder, action star, politician … and then how he blew it all with his affair. Earlier this week, a portion of the book was published in the New York Daily News. In it, Schwarzenegger revealed the moment when he admitted to Shriver, 56, that Joseph was indeed his son. During a couples counseling session just one day after he left office as governor in January 2011, his wife caught him off-guard and confronted him about the boy’s paternity. After years of denying it, Schwarzenegger finally replied, “It’s true.” He also writes that he immediately followed up his admission by begging his wife not to leave him. Admitting “it was my screw-up,” he told Shriver that she was the “perfect wife” and that he was still “turned on” by her, according to the report. Still, the couple announced their split that May. In Total Recall, Schwarzenegger writes that he still holds out some hope the two can reconcile, although in the "60 Minutes" interview he adds that the divorce is going forward.

In a preview of the interview that aired earlier this week, the actor says that Shriver did not read his book before it was published, and despite the fact that it reveals he had cheated on her, "I think that Maria is wishing me well." But the two things Schwarzenegger does not go into on "60 Minutes"? His four children with Shriver and love child with Baena. "He felt some obligation to protect them," says Stahl. "Otherwise, he sat there and took the questions."



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