A Los Angeles newspaper says the wife of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger left him after she learned he fathered a child with a member of their household staff.
The Los Angeles Times quotes Schwarzenegger as saying he told his wife, Maria Shriver, the news after he left office earlier this year. The newspaper says the birth occurred more than a decade ago.
The newspaper says the staff member worked for the family for two decades and retired in January.
Last week, Schwarzenegger and Shriver, who have been married for 25 years, announced they were separating at a "time of great personal and professional transition."
Schwarzenegger left office in January after seven years as California's governor. Before that he had a long and successful career as an actor in Hollywood action movies.
Shriver is a former television journalist and a member of the famous Kennedy political family, which includes the late President John F. Kennedy and his late brothers, prominent U.S. Senators Robert and Edward.
Shriver played a key role in her husband's successful campaign to unseat Governor Gray Davis in a recall election in 2003, when she defended Schwarzenegger against newspaper reports that he inappropriately grabbed women.
The couple has four children.
LA Times: Schwarzenegger Fathered Child with Household Staff
