Arnold Schwarzenegger reveals how ex-wife Maria Shriver confronted him about his secret son in 'Total Recall'

In the trailer for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming tell-all — which EW debuted exclusively last week — the Governator promised that his fans would learn the story we don’t know about him in Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story. That tease brought to mind the scandal that was splashed all over the headlines and led to the end of his marriage last year.

Schwarzenegger comes through on that promise by delivering a detailed account (Via ABC News) of how his now ex-wife Maria Shriver confronted him about the secret lovechild he had with their married housekeeper Mildred Baena. On Jan. 4, 2011, the day after Schwarzenegger’s term as governor of California came to an end, Shriver arranged a couples counseling session in which the therapist asked him if he had fathered a child with Baena. According to the book, he immediately admitted to the infidelity and begged Shriver for forgiveness, calling her “the perfect wife.”

The actor-politician writes that he had sex with Baena in 1996, while he was filming Batman & Robin and his wife and kids were away. He tried to convince himself that Baena’s son, Joseph, was not biologically his, but the child’s resemblance to Schwarzenegger became harder to deny. Out of embarrassment and fear of the reaction from Shriver’s family, the Kennedys — “lame” reasons, Schwarzenegger admits — Schwarzenegger avoided telling Shriver the truth for years. The parts about the scandal come late in the 624-page memoir.

Total Recall hits bookstores Oct. 1.

Read more:

Watch the trailer for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s memoir ‘Total Recall’ — EXCLUSIVE VIDEO

Arnold Schwarzenegger writing memoir titled ‘Total Recall’

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