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Terminated: the marriage of Arnold Schwarzenegger
Former governor splits with wife Maria Shriver who helped him through groping scandal
Action star turned Republican politician Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver have separated. "This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us," the couple said in a joint statement last night. "After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion, and prayer, we came to this decision together."
Arnie, currently rebuilding his film career after taking eight years out to be Governor of California, and Maria, a former TV reporter, marked their 25th wedding anniversary only two weeks ago. It is understood the statement came after the Los Angeles Times asked questions about the state of their marriage.
The couple were introduced at a charity tennis tournament in the mid-1970s by NBC news anchor Tom Brokaw, a colleague of Shriver's when she worked as a TV reporter. They married in 1986.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the couple have been leading largely separate lives since he stood down as Governor in January. She has moved out of their home in Brentwood, Los Angeles where the family stayed during his two terms as Governor (he would fly to the state capital in Sacremento by private jet).
They were always an odd couple politically - he a Republican and she a member of the Kennedy family, one of the great Democrat dynasties. Her father was Sargent Shriver - he died earlier this year - and her mother was Eunice Kennedy Shriver, sister to President Kennedy and Senators Bobby and Ted.
At the 2008 presidential election, she followed her family in endorsing Barack Obama while Arnie supported Republican John McCain.
According to the LA Times, there was a sign that things might be awry when Shriver appeared in a YouTube video to supporters at the end of March, without her wedding ring. "It is so stressful to not know what you're doing next," she said in the video. "I'd like to hear from other people in transition. How did you get through it?"
Shriver, who at 55 is eight years younger than her husband, was forced to take leave of absence from NBC when her husband decided to run for the governorship of California.
His campaign was quickly embroiled in rumours that while working on the Terminator and other action flicks, he was notorious for groping women on set. Shriver stood by him, telling a California campaign rally in 2003 that the allegations "show why really good people don't want to go into politics anymore". ·
