Arnold Schwarzenegger Regrets Ending His Marriage With Maria Shriver After Cheating on Her | “It Was Very Tough”

"I have caused enough pain for my family that I will have to live with it for the rest of my life," the 75-year-old actor shared in the trailer of his docuseries.

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Reed Saxon

By Suchitra B

May 11, 2023

Posted May 11, 2023

The life of Arnold Schwarzenegger is being made into a documentary. Schwarzenegger, his friends, foes, co-stars, and coworkers have all been interviewed for Netflix's three-part docuseries Arnold, which traces his journey from a small-town boy to a heartthrob in cinema and eventually, the Governor of California.

The teaser also goes into detail on Schwarzenegger's personal life, including the dissolution of his marriage to his ex-wife, Maria Shriver, due to an extramarital affair and the birth of his son Joseph Baena, per Entertainment Tonight. "People will remember my successes and they will also remember those failures," Schwarzenegger is heard saying in the two-minute trailer.

Although the Terminator actor doesn't specifically state what led to his marital problems with Shriver, he does hint that there were significant obstacles. "It was very tough on my marriage, on my relationship with the kids. I have caused enough pain for my family that I will have to live with it for the rest of my life," the 75-year-old reflected.

Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed to PEOPLE in 2017 that he is still attempting to put the mistake behind him, 20 years after surreptitiously fathering a kid with the family maid. "You do think about it every so often," The Celebrity Apprentice host revealed, adding, "And I can beat myself up as much as I want — it's not gonna change the situation. So the key thing is, how do you move forward? How do you have a great relationship with your kids?"

In 2011, the day after he resigned from his position as governor of California, the affair became public. The actor acknowledged he had a son with their housekeeper Mildred Baena, a boy called Joseph, who was 14 at the time, during a therapy session with his wife Maria Shriver and their four kids. Shortly after the admission, Shriver filed for divorce.

Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up about his affair: I ‘do think about it every so often’ https://t.co/LHf24oJ9dp pic.twitter.com/4Kh8nTVDoP
— People (@people) March 4, 2017

"You can't go back — if I could, in reality, be Terminator, of course, I would go back in time and would say, 'Arnold … no,'" he told the magazine. "You know, it's always easy to be smart in hindsight. That's not the way it works."

Now, Schwarzenegger keeps up a close relationship with all of his kids, even Baena, who is a Pepperdine student, per PEOPLE. "He's terrific and he totally understands the situation," the actor told Howard Stern in 2015. "So, it all has worked out. It's a very tough situation for him. It's a very tough situation for my kids, very tough situation for my family. It was tough for everybody. But it has happened and now we have to figure it out, right?"

Arnold Schwarzenegger reflects on affair that broke up his marriage: "I can beat myself up as much as I want." https://t.co/3cVLFeOHRN pic.twitter.com/Ly9oGz7rzl
— ABC News (@ABC) March 2, 2017

His daughter Katherine opened up in an interview about how the family was able to move ahead, per PEOPLE. "My parents were very, very big on making sure that we remained a family unit no matter what happened and they did a really good job at that." She added, "We've remained very very normal and we just have a lot of love for each other. We're overly obsessed with each other … they did a great job, both my parents …maintaining our family unit."