The ball is in your court, Maria Shriver.
The TV journalist’s estranged husband, Arnold Schwarzenegger, continued to discuss their failed marriage while promoting his new memoir, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, on Fox News’ Hannity October 1. (Shriver filed for divorce in July 2011, two months after the couple announced their separation. Married for 25 years, the two are parents to Katherine, 22, Christina, 21, Patrick, 19, and Christopher, 15.)
Calling his extramarital affair with housekeeper Mildred Baena that resulted in the birth of his fifth child “a huge screw-up,” Schwarzenegger spoke candidly about how his actions “destroyed my family.” (He and Baena are parents to Joseph, 15.)
“It was a situation where I couldn’t even blame anybody else but myself, because my wife was a fantastic wife. She was a great friend, she was a great adviser, everything, great mother. I mean, my kids were fantastic. The thing that I cherished the most, you know, I destroyed by some stupid things that I’ve done,” Schwarzenegger said. “For me, it’s important to kind of rebuild again, get the trust back with the kids, with my wife.”
Hoping for a reconciliation with Shriver, 56, the former Republican governor of California, 65, said he does see them getting back “together eventually. It takes a lot of time to heal those wounds and to trust each other again. But, you know, I will make every effort.”
“Maria has been extraordinary throughout this whole process,” the action star and former bodybuilder added. “Extraordinary also with bringing the children together and making sure that we celebrate together when there’s a graduation or when there’s a birthday or Valentine’s Day or Easter, or Christmas — stuff like that. She’s been great. The kids have been really great. I’m thankful about that.”
“I’ve hurt a lot of people,” Schwarzenegger acknowledged. “I hurt my wife tremendously, who doesn’t deserve that, and my kids and relatives, all this. I’m embarrassed, ashamed about it, but you can’t go back.”
Schwarzenegger said his estranged spouse has received a copy of his autobiography, but to his knowledge, she hasn’t read it yet. “We talked about it, but I didn’t go into details. I didn’t want her to get into a situation where she knows about the book and she has to answer questions to the press,” the Terminator actor explained. “This way, officially she hasn’t read it yet, and now she has the book.”
