Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted to cheating on wife Maria Shriver and fathering a love child with a member of their household staff in the 1990s. Now he is admitting to another affair with actress Brigitte Nielsen.
- Credit: MGM
Schwarzenegger admits to having had a “hot affair” with Nielsen while he and Shriver were dating in the pages of his new autobiography “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story,” TIME magazine reports.
Schwarzenegger and Nielsen co-starred in the 1985 film “Red Sonja.” Nielsen wrote a memoir published last year stating that she and Schwarzenegger had an “outrageous affair” while making the movie and that she didn’t know until later that he was involved with Shriver.
In his memoir “Total Recall,” coming out Monday, Schwarzenegger writes that he and Nielsen did indeed have a “hot affair,” but he knew it wouldn’t last. In fact, their “fling” only made him realize that he wanted to marry Shriver.
Nielsen would soon marry Schwarzenegger’s fellow action star, Sylvester Stallone.
Arnold Schwarzenegger says his wife, Maria Shriver, was told to “snap out of it” by her mother for her attempts to persuade him against running for California governor in 2003, a conversation that ultimately opened the door to his successful candidacy.
Eunice Shriver told her daughter that her husband would be “angry for the rest of his life” if she stopped his ambitions, Schwarzenegger writes in his new autobiography, “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story.”
The former governor says in the book that he had decided against running to recall Gov. Gray Davis after his wife implored him not to for the sake of their family. Maria Shriver announced his decision to their four children.
But he writes that when Maria Shriver told her mother about her efforts to thwart Schwarzenegger’s political ambitions, Eunice told her daughter that women in their family “always support the men when they want to do something.” Schwarzenegger says he didn’t know about the conversation at the time, but learned of it later.
Maria Shriver then softened her stance, paving the way for Schwarzenegger to announce his candidacy on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” where he says he felt most comfortable.
The announcement came after a week of wavering. Schwarzenegger says before he headed to the TV appearance, his wife handed him two pieces of paper with talking points she had written: one in case he decided to run, another in case he decided not to.
He writes that Shriver went on to become a key ally and adviser to his campaign and eventual governorship.
The New York Times contributed to this report.
