Despite being blamed by his step siblings as the lovechild who terminated their family, Joseph Baena is thrilled to have Arnold Schwarzenegger as his father, whom he still shares a strong bond and continues to support.
Continuously snubbed by the children his father shares with Maria Shriver, Baena, 26, refuses to back down from the man who says he is “very much welcomed in this world.”
For the first 14 years of Joseph Baena’s life, he was the dirty little secret kept by Arnold Schwarzenegger and the family housekeeper, Mildred “Patty” Baena.
The little boy didn’t even know that the former Mr. Universe was his father, until he was 13.
Describing his experience in learning that Schwarzenegger, 76, was his dad, Baena tells Men’s Health: “I remember the day very vividly…I was in the eighth grade. Fifth or sixth period. And I get called out of class to leave. And my mom’s there, and she’s like, ‘We gotta go–everyone is finding out about you and who your father is.’” Talking about the media circus surrounding his home, he continued, “I’m 13. Your body’s transforming: your mind is transforming. And now my life transformed before my eyes.”
Meanwhile, the Last Action Hero was secretly supporting Patty and his son, and Maria Shriver was unaware that the child who sometimes joined his mother at the house – playing with her children – was fathered by her husband.
But as Baena older, he started looking more like father and the secret was impossible to hold.
Describing how he lied to his wife of 25 years in his book “Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story,” the star of Terminator also shares the reaction of his children when he told them of the affair.