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Maria Shriver Is ‘In a Good Place’ With Ex Arnold Schwarzenegger After His Love Child Scandal
Maria Shriver revealed she and ex-husband Arnold Schwarzenegger are doing well in the aftermath of his love child scandal and their subsequent divorce, as they’ve bonded over their grandchildren.
The former NBC News journalist, 69, told People she and The Terminator star, 77, are in “such a good place” today in an interview published on Wednesday, March 26.
“We laugh a lot about our kids, our grandkids, ourselves,” she said while promoting her first-ever book of poetry, I Am Maria. “And we are proud of the fact that we are still in conversation. For almost 50 years! ”
Arnold and Maria became grandparents for the third time in November 2024, when daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger and her husband, Chris Pratt, welcomed son Ford Fitzgerald. The children’s book author, 35, previously gave birth to daughters Lyla Maria, 4, and Eloise Christina, 2.
Maria and Arnold share three other children: Christina Schwarzenegger, 33, Patrick Schwarzenegger, 31, and Christopher Schwarzenegger, 27.
The I’ve Been Thinking author gushed to the publication over motherhood and becoming a grandmother.
“Watching my kids find their path, find their partners, find their passion, sitting with them, talking with them, learning from them, laughing with them, traveling with them. I really enjoy them more than anyone in the world,” she revealed.
“My grandchildren have made me remember how to play again, how to be silly again, how to be creative again. We love to go to the park,” Maria shared. “We love to play pranks on people. We love to play games. I feel so blessed that I’m alive and I get to watch my kids grow up and watch and meet my grandchildren.”
Arnold and Maria married in 1986. She filed for divorce in 2011 after finding out the former California governor fathered a love child with the family’s maid in 1997. After the news became public knowledge, Arnold maintained a close and open relationship with his son Joseph Baena, whom he shares with Mildred “Patty” Baena. Arnold and Maria’s divorce was finalized in 2021.
The Today contributor wrote in I Am Maria‘s introduction about discovering her then-husband had a sexual relationship that produced a love child during their marriage.
“As I sat on the hotel room floor in the dark, terrified and alone with tears streaming down my face, I thought to myself: ‘Maria, this doesn’t have to be the end of the you. It can’t be the end of you. Make it a new beginning of you,'” she wrote.
Another family member Maria has been open about — but for a much happier reason — is son Patrick. The proud mom told People she’s bursting with joy over Patrick’s acting success on season 3 of The White Lotus.
“It’s amazing because it really is a phenomenon. I’m so happy for him. He’s worked so hard, and he has a really good head on his shoulders. He also has a really great team around him that he’s built up over the years — people that really care about him and support him,” she explained.
Maria continued about Patrick, “He has such support from his family, which I think is also important. I keep encouraging him to just enjoy this moment and this experience because it seems to be like nothing else in the world.”
Patrick — who plays Saxon Ratliff on The White Lotus — previously revealed to TODAY.com how his parents had different reactions to his nude scenes while watching the season premiere together as a family.
“We watched the first episode together and all my family members had different reactions to seeing me completely nude,” he said. Dad Arnold thought it was “hilarious,” while mom Maria “didn’t even really understand what was happening.”
While watching The White Lotus season 3 has brought the Patrick’s family together as a group, the actor told Drew Barrymore during a Tuesday, March 25, appearance on her daytime talk show that he will not be joined by his parents to watch the final episodes.
“I think some upcoming episodes I’m going to watch without them,” he said. “[I] would definitely take a bathroom break [if things get too awkward]. The next episodes, they’re crazy.”
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