Arnold Schwarzenegger Affair: Says Cheating on Maria Shriver was 'Stupidest Thing'

Arnold Schwarzenegger claimed he is full of regret for having an affair with his family's longtime housekeeper and fathering her child. 

In January 2011, it was discovered that Mildred Baena -- the maid who worked for Schwarzenegger, his then-wife Maria Shriver and their four kids for 20 years -- and her famous boss had a son together. Their son, Joseph (now 14), was born just days after his youngest child with Shriver. 

"I think it was the stupidest thing I've done in the whole relationship. It was terrible. I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids," Schwarzenegger said of the affair in a "60 Minutes" excerpt released by CBS, according to AP.

The former Republican governor of California made the comments in an interview with "60 Minutes" scheduled to air Sept. 30. "The Expendables 2" star Hollywood action star went on the CBS show to promote his new autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story." 

The actor recently launched a think tank at the University of Southern California, the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. According to AP, Schwarzenegger started it in part because he didn't get to accomplish all he wanted to as California governor. 

Baena listed her former husband as the father on Joseph's birth certificate and has said she did not know for certain who the father was until the boy began resembling Schwarzenegger. 

His extramarital affairs were exposed around the same time as his political reputation was damaged. Schwarzenegger helped his friend, former state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, by decreasing his son's voluntary manslaughter sentence from 16 years to seven. 

Shriver filed for divorce in July. In a separate excerpt of the "60 Minutes" interview released by CBS, Schwarzenegger said Shriver has not read his tell-all book.

"I think that Maria is, you know, wishing me well in everything I do," Schwarzenegger told interviewer Lesley Stahl.