Dinner in private? Flirting in public? Just who has Maria Shriver been spotted
with since her split from Arnold Schwarzenegger?
In 2011, Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver shocked the world when they
announced they were getting divorced after 25 years of marriage. The split came after it was
revealed that Schwarzenegger had an affair with their family's former housekeeper, Mildred Baena,
and also fathered her child. In his new Netflix documentary series "Arnold," the "Terminator" star
recalled the exact moment he came clean to Shriver about his secret love child. He spoke about how
they would go to counseling once a week and about a specific session when the counselor said,
"I think today Maria wants to be very specific
about something. She wants to know if you are the father of Joseph."
Arnold came clean about how he felt at that moment.
"And I was like — I thought my heart stopped, and then I told the truth."
Despite the scandal, he and Shriver have managed to keep things cordial and maintain a united front
for their children after their split. Since their separation, Schwarzenegger has moved on and found
new love with physical therapist Heather Milligan, who is 28 years his junior. It's unknown exactly
how the two met, but in a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor gushed about his girlfriend.
"[The divorce] was very, very difficult in the beginning. Eventually,
you move on. I have a wonderful girlfriend, Heather Milligan,
who is very successful. I'm really proud of her, and I love her."
Well, what about Shriver? Has she dated anyone since her divorce?
In 2013, reports surfaced that Maria Shriver was dating political consultant Matthew Dowd
after the pair was spotted out together in Washington, D.C. Photos published by
the Daily Mail showed the two walking out of a restaurant during a private dinner outing
in Georgetown on October 19. Dowd is a former ABC News political analyst who served as Arnold
Schwarzenegger's chief strategist during his 2006 re-election campaign as California state governor.
Sources later confirmed their romance to The Washington Post, saying that Shriver and Dowd
had been "seriously" but "very quietly" seeing each other for the past few months. Less than a
year after that initial outing, the two made their first public appearance as a couple at
the wedding of Shriver's cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to actor Cheryl Hines in 2014.
Shortly after going public, the New York Post published a bombshell report claiming
that Shriver and Dowd had an affair during his time working as a campaign strategist
for Schwarzenegger. Sources cited by the publication claimed that the two
would openly flirt with each other in front of other campaign staffers. A source told Page Six,
"They frequently spent time alone. [...] And Arnold was rarely,
if ever, around when they were together."
Schwarzenegger eventually learned about the dalliance and swiftly dropped Dowd. However,
Dowd, in a message to the Post, denied the allegations:
"There was no affair. We were good friends."
Per the Daily Mail, he and Shriver would ultimately
call it quits in 2017 after four years together.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made no secret of his affection for his ex-wife ever since the
pair announced their separation back in 2011. In his profile for The Hollywood
Reporter last May, Schwarzenegger admitted his lingering love for Shriver, saying,
"I love my wife. She and I are really good friends and very close,
and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids."
He shared the same sentiment in his Netflix docuseries "Arnold,"
as he reflected on his friendship with Shriver.
"There's nothing more important than to have a good partner by your side,
and every step of the way Maria was that. We have a really great relationship."
Similarly, the actor has voiced his regret about his affair, saying he considers it
his "biggest failure" in life. In 2015 interview with Howard Stern, he shared,
"I had personal setbacks, but this was, without any doubt,
the biggest setback and the biggest failure. Without any doubt. Not only failure,
but you feel like, 'I'm to blame for it. It was me that screwed up.'"
He acknowledged the pain he'd caused not only his ex-wife but their kids,
Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher, as well as Mildred Baena and their son, Joseph.
"Everyone had to suffer. I am going to have to live with it the rest of my life."