Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have been in each other’s lives for nearly half a century.
The Predator star and the journalist began dating in 1977 after being introduced by a mutual friend. Schwarzenegger and Shriver went on to wed in 1986 and soon began expanding their family. The couple welcomed four children together: daughters Katherine and Christina, plus sons Patrick and Christopher.
In 2011, they separated after Schwarzenegger admitted to having fathered a child, Joseph Baena, with the family’s housekeeper 14 years earlier. Shriver filed for divorce, which was finalized 10 years later.
From their initial introduction to the Terminator star’s infidelity and their ensuing divorce, here’s everything to know about Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver’s relationship.
August 1977: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver first meet
The pair were first introduced at the Robert F. Kennedy Tennis Tournament by a mutual friend, NBC’s Tom Brokaw. Sparks flew at their initial meeting and they began dating soon after.
August 1985: Arnold Schwarzenegger proposes to Maria Shriver
Eight years into their relationship, the Jingle All the Way star popped the question to Shriver and the two got engaged.
April 26, 1986: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver get married
The following spring, the two said “I do” in a Catholic ceremony in Hyannis, Massachusetts. Among the notable guests at the nuptials was Shriver’s cousin, Caroline Kennedy, who was her maid of honor.
December 13, 1989: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver welcome their first baby, Katherine
The couple welcomed their first child together, daughter Katherine Eunice, three years into their marriage. Katherine’s middle name is an homage to her maternal grandmother, Eunice Kennedy — the younger sister of President John F. Kennedy.
Now all grown up, Katherine is married to Jurassic World star Chris Pratt and has two daughters of her own, whom Schwarzenegger loves being granddad to. “It’s fantastic! I have a great time when they come over to the house,” he said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! of spending time with his grandkids.
July 23, 1991: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver welcome daughter Christina
Katherine was followed by another daughter, Christina, on July 23, 1991. Following her mother and her grandmother’s lead, Christina is a founding member of the Special Olympics Founder’s Council.
September 18, 1993: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver welcome son Patrick
The proud parents’ first son, Patrick, was born in Los Angeles in 1993. These days, he’s following in his dad’s Hollywood footsteps, with roles in HBO Max’s true crime series The Staircase and 2021’s Moxie.
“[My dad’s] really proud of me and they’re so supportive,” Patrick said of his parents. “I couldn’t ask for a better parent duo.”
September 27, 1997: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver welcome son Christopher
In 1997, Schwarzenegger and Shriver welcomed their fourth and final child together, son Christopher.
November 17, 2003: Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in as governor of California
Shriver supported her husband throughout his race for governor of California. After the Kindergarten Cop star beat out former governor Gray Davis in a momentous recall election, he was sworn in as the 38th governor of California with his wife by his side in Sacramento. The pair’s children were also in attendance.
January 5, 2007: Maria Shriver shows support as Arnold Schwarzenegger is sworn in a second time
Schwarzenegger was reelected for a second term in 2007. Although he had a broken leg at the time of his swearing-in ceremony, his wife was there to support him. The two even shared a kiss for the cameras.
May 10, 2011: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announce their separation
After 25 years together, Schwarzenegger and Shriver released a statement saying that they had mutually decided to go their separate ways.
“This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us,” the statement said. “After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion, and prayer, we came to this decision together.” They confirmed that they were living apart while working “on the future of our relationship,” adding that their focus remained on their children. “We are continuing to parent our four children together. They are the light and the center of both of our lives.”
May 17, 2011: Arnold Schwarzenneger admits to having fathered a child during a previous affair
Immediately after his term as California governor ended in January 2011, Schwarzenneger revealed to Shriver and to their children that he had fathered a child, Joseph, with their longtime maid, Mildred Baena, 14 years prior.
Speaking to the Los Angeles Times in May, the Terminator star publicly apologized. “After leaving the governor’s office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago. I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry.”
July 1, 2011: Maria Shriver files for divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger
Two months after news of her husband’s affair came to light, Shriver filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court. Citing irreconcilable differences, Shriver requested shared custody of the couple’s minor children at the time — sons Patrick and Christopher, who were 17 and 13, respectively. She also sought spousal support from Schwarzenegger.
July 30, 2011: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver reunite for his birthday
There appeared to be no bad blood between the Terminator star and the I’ve Been Thinking author as they stepped out together just a few weeks after filing for divorce. They were spotted eating lunch together at Casa Roma restaurant in Beverly Hills before hitting the town for some retail therapy.
Sources told PEOPLE at the time that the pair would always remain close for the sake of their family. “Arnold and Maria will always come together when it comes to supporting and loving their children,” they said.
July 30, 2015: Maria Shriver celebrates Arnold Schwarzenegger’s birthday
Shriver appears to have kept up the annual tradition of celebrating her ex’s birthday as a family. In 2015, she was spotted leaving the Montage hotel in Beverly Hills at the same time as him, where they enjoyed a birthday lunch with their daughters Katherine and Christina.
May 14, 2016: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver attend their son Patrick’s graduation
The proud parents came together to show their love for their son Patrick at his college graduation in 2016. Standing alongside the new graduate, Shriver planted a kiss on his cheek as his dad wrapped an arm around him at the USC commencement ceremony. Both parents proudly shared photos and tributes to their son on Instagram, wishing him luck on his next adventures.
March 2017: Arnold Schwarzenegger opens up about his affair
The True Lies star made a rare comment about his affair during a 2017 interview with Men’s Journal. He admitted to the outlet that he thinks about it “every so often,” but that he’s put the past behind him and is focused on moving forward.
“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?”
He continued, “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.'” But it’s not that simple, he added. “You know, it’s always easy to be smart in hindsight. That’s not the way it works.”
August 3, 2020: Maria Shriver celebrates Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 73rd birthday
In 2020, Shriver joined the rest of their family in celebrating the Twins star’s 73rd birthday. They posed for a rare family portrait, with a smiling Shriver and all four of their children surrounding the birthday boy and his array of festive desserts.
December 28, 2021: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver finalize their divorce
Ten years after filing, the former couple settled their divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court. PEOPLE confirmed the news through court documents after TMZ broke the news.
September 19, 2022: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver celebrate their son Patrick’s birthday together
Despite their separation, the proud parents have kept up a unified front for their family over the years. In September 2022, they celebrated their son Patrick’s 29th birthday together as a trio, taking him out to dinner and posing for photos at the restaurant.
February 6, 2023: Maria Shriver reveals she went to a convent after filing for divorce from Arnold Schwarzenegger
After filing for divorce from Schwarzenegger, Shriver sought “to be in silence and look for advice” at a convent, she revealed during an appearance on the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast.
“I first felt like, ‘Oh I’d better go and figure out like, what is the truth?’ ” Shriver explained. “I went to a convent — I did so many things — but one of the things I did is I went to a convent, a cloistered convent.”
She added that the experience ultimately helped her find herself again. “I felt like I was in a scene out of The Sound of Music,” she said, adding that the convent’s Reverend Mother told her, ” ‘You can’t come live here, but you do have permission to go out and become Maria.’ I was like, sobbing. I was like, ‘Who is that?’ “
The mom of four added that she often felt disconnected from herself in her marriage, as she felt overlooked when Schwarzenegger or her famous family members were in the room.
“I would find myself getting angry at people who came up and didn’t acknowledge that I existed when I was standing next to Arnold, or when I was standing next to my uncle or somebody,” she said. “And then I [realized] they were teaching me a lesson that it’s not about whether they see me,” she explained. “Do I see me? Am I visible to me?”
May 16, 2023: Arnold Schwarzenegger says divorce from Maria Shriver was “very difficult”
Schwarzenegger considers the collapse of his union with Shriver to be a personal “failure.” But at the same time, the Predator star says he doesn’t miss being married.
“[The divorce] was very, very difficult in the beginning. Eventually, you move on,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “[Maria] and I are really good friends and very close, and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids.”
The former California governor added: “If there’s Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for having the least amount of impact on the kids. The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that’s from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me.”
June 5, 2023: Arnold Schwarzenegger recalls telling Maria Shriver about his child with the housekeeper
In his Netflix docu-series, Arnold, Schwarzenegger details the moment he told Shriver about fathering a son with their housekeeper.
“Maria and I went to counseling once a week and in one of the sessions the counselor said, ‘I think today Maria wants to be very specific about something. She wants to know if you are the father of Joseph,’ ” he recalled. “And I was like — I thought my heart stopped, and then I told the truth.”
Schwarzenegger continued: “She was crushed because of that. I had an affair in ’96. In the beginning, I really didn’t know. 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?”
The Kindergarten Cop actor went on to call the affair a “major failure” that he will have to live with for the rest of his life.
“There is nothing more important than to have a good partner by your side, and every step of the way Maria was that. We have a really great relationship,” Schwarzenegger added. “Any type of special day, we are all together as a family. But it’s not what it was when we were all together under one roof as a family. That’s not the case anymore.”
