When it was revealed that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a 13-year-old child with a trusted member of the family’s domestic staff, the world let out a collective gasp.The mother, housekeeper Mildred Baena, has since been in hiding.But with fictitious stories circulating in the media, she has decided to set the record straight, and is giving what will be her first and only interview exclusively to HELLO! magazine.
Photo: © David Schumacher
She is joined by the other protagonist in this distressing drama, son Joseph, who has dealt with the events of the past few weeks with a maturity way beyond his years.
When his grandmother sat him down one year ago to explain that Arnold Schwarzenegger was his father, he exclaimed: “Cool!”.And his mother said the young boy is looking forward to building a relationship with the former Hollywood star.
Guatemala-born Mildred revealed that she realised the truth once her son started to resemble the former Governor of California.“It was as Joseph grew and I started to see the resemblance that I wondered – but It became more apparent as time went on,” she said.“I knew Arnold was the father, and maybe as Joseph got older and began to look like him, he [Arnold] wondered. But he never said anything to me.”
She also revealed that Maria Shriver, now separated from Arnold, had started to put two and two together when she heard whispers in the household about the pair's similarity.“She would say things like, “I’m here if you need to talk.” I sensed something was up. I have so much love and respect for Maria.“Finally, she asked point blank.”But it was Maria’s actions that shocked Mildred.“She was so strong. She cried with me and told me to get off my knees. We held each other and I told her it wasn’t Arnie’s fault, that it takes two.”Finally, she expressed her sympathy for Arnold and what he must be going through: “He’s a good man and I know he’s suffering too. He loves Maria. I hope with time they work things out.”Read the full exclusive interview in this week’s HELLO! magazine, issue 1179