Arnold Schwarzenegger has no relationship with former housekeeper Mildred Baena with whom he fathered a son – but he ‘respects her as the mother of his child,’ according to insiders.
The Hollywood actor, 76, fathered a child with Mildred in October 1997 while he was married to Maria Shriver – with Joseph born just days after his wife gave birth to their fourth child, Christopher.
The Terminator star has always provided financially for Joseph, who recently turned 26, and is ‘still there’ for his youngest child, according to an insider, who claimed the actor’s ‘day-to-day life doesn’t involve Mildred at all’.
‘Arnold and Mildred don’t hang out, don’t talk very often, or at all, but he makes sure that she is okay and finds out how she is doing through Joseph, and it is all done matter of factly,’ a source told DailyMail.com exclusively.
‘He loves that Joseph has a great relationship with her, and though that affair ended his marriage with Maria, he respects her as the mother of his child. He still is there for Joseph, for any advice he might need. But his day-to-day life doesn’t involve Mildred at all.’
Arnold Schwarzenegger had a ‘one-night stand’ with his then housekeeper, Mildred Baena, while he was married to Maria Shriver
Mildred, now 62, gave birth to her son, Joseph, in October 1997 just days after Maria gave birth to Christopher – her fourth child with Arnold
Arnold pictured with his youngest child, Joseph, who turned 26 earlier this month
The insider continued: ‘It was a one-night stand that provided a forever connection and Arnold is – and has – taken responsibility for that, but he doesn’t chat with her, he has moved on from that moment.’
‘Even though the situation wasn’t ideal and caused a lot of problems, he loves his son. Arnold isn’t going to fight fate, it is what it is. Though there isn’t any type of relationship with Mildred, he has no ill will towards her at all,’ the source added.
Meanwhile, Arnold praised his ex-wife, Maria, for being a ‘fantastic’ mother to their four children during an appearance on Monday’s episode of The View.
The father-of-five joined Whoopi Goldberg and the rest of the panel live in the studio to promote his upcoming book, Be Useful: Seven Tools For Life, and opened up about life as a grandfather and disciplining his own kids when they were growing up.
Arnold’s daughter Katherine has three-year-old Lyla and one-year-old Eloise with her husband and actor, Chris Pratt.
Asked how strict he is with the two girls, Arnold replied: ‘Well, that’s a good question because the bottom line is that now I don’t have to be that strict!
‘I can play with them. They play with the animals, and I let them ride on the donkey and on the pony, I let them play with the horses and with the pig, they feed the dogs and all this kind of stuff, and they love me because they have cookies and they feed the cookies to the animals.’
‘Then the discipline stuff my daughter has to do, and my son-in-law has to do. Let Chris Pratt and Katherine have the headache of disciplining them!’ he joked, referring to his 33-year-old daughter and her husband.
Arnold pictured in 2005 with his then-wife, Maria Shriver, and their four children: Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher
The Austrian star said his ex, Maria, was a ‘fantastic mother’ to their four kids and ‘still is’
Arnold described his daughter Katherine and her husband, Chris Pratt, as ‘really good’ and ‘fantastic’ parents
Arnold gave an insight into the couple’s parenting, adding: ‘Chris Pratt, he’s a really strict father, and he’s a really good father and a good husband and my daughter is fantastic, she uses all the rules that my wife used to.
‘Maria was a fantastic mother always, and still is. Maria had a different approach, the American approach. I had the European approach, but not all the way European, may I remind you.
‘They had a strict upbringing, and a good education and both of the parents were always there, but my wife – of course – was there much more, 80 per cent of the time.’
Arnold recently opened up about the crushing moment he told Maria, now 67, about his infidelity and fathering a love child, as he reflected on the demise of their marriage.
Speaking in his Netflix documentary, Arnold, the former bodybuilder explained how during a marriage counseling session in 2011, the counsellor had said: ‘Today Maria wants to be very specific about something. She wants to know if you’re the father of Joseph.’
The former governor of California expressed in the three-part docuseries: ‘I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth. “Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son”. She was obviously crushed by that.’
The star explained that at first, both himself and Mildred assumed the child was her husband Rogelio’s, and she continued to work for the Schwarzenegger family. ‘In the beginning I really didn’t know, but the older he got, the more it became clear to me,’ he said in the documentary.
‘It was then just a matter of, “How do you keep this quiet?”‘
The Terminator star ‘is there for Joseph for any advice he might need’ and very much has a relationship with his son
According to a source, Arnold ‘loves that Joseph has a great relationship’ with Mildred
Joseph has followed in his famous father’s footsteps and has a love for bodybuilding
The actor first crossed paths with Maria, the niece of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, at a tennis match in August 1977. The two became engaged after Arnold popped the big question in his home country of Austria in 1985.
The former couple tied the knot the following year in 1986 during a romantic ceremony at the Kennedy family home in Massachusetts, branding it the ‘biggest wedding I’ve ever been to.’ Arnold gushed that he felt he was ‘the luckiest son of a b***h in life.’
Throughout the course of their 25-year marriage, the pair welcomed daughters Katherine, 33, and Christina, 31, as well as sons Patrick, 29, and Christopher, 26.
Regarding the affair, Arnold admitted that it was his ‘biggest failure’ and stated: ‘I have caused enough pain for my family, because of my f***-up. Everyone had to suffer. Maria had to suffer, the kids had to suffer, Joseph, his mother, everyone.’
The True Lies star revealed: ‘I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life.’
Following the affair, Mildred left her husband, and Arnold provided for both her and Joseph, purchasing them a home with a pool in California in 2010.
The housekeeper retired in 2011, the same year that Maria ended her relationship with Arnold, and filed for divorce.
She previously recalled how she sort refuge at a convent in a bid to process their separation.
Speaking to Hoda Kotb, she said: ‘I first felt like, “Oh I’d better go and figure out like, what is the truth?” 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, to be in silence and look for advice.’
Their divorce wasn’t officially finalized until 2021.
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