Arnold and Maria

Maria Shriver discovered her then husband Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child with his housekeeper during a marriage therapy session.

The 'Terminator' actor was confronted by his wife Maria Shriver just a day after he left office as the Governor of California in January 2011, and she demanded to know if a child had by their housekeeper Mildred was Arnold's, and he admitted his guilt immediately.

In an excerpt from his new book 'Total Recall: My Unbelievable Life Story', he said: ''The minute we sat down, the therapist turned to me and said, 'Maria wanted to come here today and to ask about a child - whether you fathered a child with your housekeeper Mildred. I told the therapist, 'It's true.' ''

Arnold also revealed the affair happened while his family were on holiday and he was filming the role of Mr Freeze in 'Batman and Robin' in 1996.

The former bodybuilder admits he did not do the ''right thing'' and tell Maria, and instead locked away the birth of the boy, named Joseph, in his head.

He added: ''Instead of doing the right thing I'd just put the truth in a mental compartment and locked it up where I didn't deal with it every day.

''You can call this denial, but it's the way my mind works.''

© Bang Showbiz