He’s back! Arnold Schwarzenegger shares 25 action-packed facts you may not know about him in this week’s issue of Us Weekly. Be sure to catch the muscular movie star, 69, as the host of The Celebrity Apprentice on NBC January 2 at 8 p.m.
1. When I was the chairman of the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition from 1990 to 1992, I visited all 50 states.
2. I was originally meant to play the good guy, Kyle Reese, in 1984’s The Terminator, with O.J. Simpson playing the Terminator.
3. I can grill a steak better than anyone I know.
4. I have a mini-horse, Whisky, who comes into my house and steals my oatmeal and protein powder.
5. I paint my own Christmas cards.
6. I didn’t take a salary for Twins in 1988, because the studio was taking a risk on me by letting me do a comedy. I did make a profit-sharing deal and made more money from Twins than any other movie.
7. I play chess to relax when I’m working. If we are night shooting, I might play as many as 30 games.
8. I grew up in Austria without a phone, running water or a flushing toilet.
9. I didn’t take my first flight until I was 19.
10. Bodybuilding didn’t make any money; the world championship was a $1,000 prize. So I started a bricklaying company with my best friend, Franco, to support us.
11. I love shopping at Walmart. I’ve worn jeans from Walmart on a red carpet.
12. I ride my bike every morning to the gym and work out. It’s an addiction.
13. I bought my first apartment building in 1974, eight years before I starred in Conan the Barbarian.
14. I prefer FaceTime to phone calls.
15. I never even used a phone until I was 15.
16. Richard Nixon was the first president I met, and I’ve met every president since. My friends say I’m like Forrest Gump.
17. I used to have a miniature pig named Bacon. We had to send it to a fat farm because my kids overfed it.
18. I love skiing so much, there is a run named after me in Sun Valley, Idaho.
19. In 1975, I learned how to water-ski in Birmingham, Alabama, during the filming of Stay Hungry.
20. When I went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2003 to announce I was going to run for California governor, I was the only person who knew that I was going to run.
21. My guilty pleasure is kaiserschmarrn, an Austrian dessert that is basically shredded, fried pancakes. It is heaven.
22. When I lived in Munich, I won a stone-lifting contest in a beer hall. The stone weighed 560 pounds.
23. I was the Junior European Champion in ice curling.
24. I have more than 50 pairs of cowboy boots.
25. I moved to America in 1968 with nothing but my gym bag.
