"How do you keep this a secret?": Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up on affair with housekeeper in new Netflix documentary

The upcoming Netflix docuseries titled Arnold is set to release on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, and will showcase the ups and downs in Arnold Schwarzenegger's life. While he is quite successful in the field of bodybuilding, cinema, and politics, his personal life has been rough and filled with complicated situations. The former governor of California has five children, one of whom, Joseph Baena, was born out of Schwarzenegger's affair with his housekeeper. The housekeeper, Mildred Patricia "Patty" Baena, and Schwarzenegger had an affair while the latter was still married to Maria Shriver.

In the trailer of the upcoming docuseries, the actor is heard saying that he deeply regrets that part of his life. He says:

"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 do you keep this quiet? How do you keep this a secret?"

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver got married in 1986. After spending 35 years together, they divorced in 2021. The former couple together have four children, two of whom are author Katherine Schwarzenegger and model/actor/businessman Patrick Schwarzenegger.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger has a son with his former housekeeper Mildred Patricia "Patty" Baena

Netflix is releasing a docuseries titled Arnold on June 7, 2023. The series will narrate the story of the iconic actor/bodybuilder/politician Arnold Schwarzenegger in a very intimate and personal manner.

Arnold Schwarzenegger explains how he had an affair with his former housekeeper Mildred Baena, who got pregnant with their son. Arnold said that he revealed this news to her ex-wife Maria Shriver during a couple's counseling session and added how the information had crushed Maria.

He said that the former couple would go to counseling once a week and in one of the sessions, he remembered Maria wanting to be "very specific about something." The Terminator actor noted that his former wife wanted to know if he was Joseph's father. He recalled feeling like his heart had stopped but told her the truth.

He explained how he had an affair with Patty in 1996 and that Joseph Baena was born on October 2, 1997. The former bodybuilder said that he felt terrible about the pain he had caused his wife and family.

Recollecting what he told his wife, Schwarzenegger said that he confirmed her suspicion which crushed her. He continued that he had the affair and in the beginning, he didn't really know how much pain he had caused his family. He said his wife, kids, Joseph, and even Patty had to suffer due to the affair. The politician added that everyone suffered and he was going to have to live with it for the rest of his life.

He ended his statement by saying that this part of his life was a major failure. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that while people would remember his successes, they would also remember his failures. He claimed that he had failures in the past in his career, but this situation was a "different ball game" and a different "dimension of failure."

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The synopsis for Arnold on Netflix

The official synopsis of the upcoming Netflix docuseries reads,

"This three part documentary series chronicles never before seen footage & stories of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s journey from rural Austria to the highest echelons of the American dream. In the series, there’s unprecedented access to the most candid interviews from Schwarzenegger, his friends, foes, co-stars and observers."

It further states:

"We see many talk about his days pumping iron to his triumphs in Hollywood, all the way to his time governing the state of California. The joys and the turbulence of his family life are unveiled in a tale that matches his larger-than-life persona."

Arnold is directed by Lesley Chilcott and is suitable for people aged 16 and above. As mentioned earlier, it would be released on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, only on Netflix.