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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Joel Leaver

Inside Arnold Schwarzenegger's relationship with secret son Joseph - money, advice and gym

Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to have grown quite close to his youngest son Joseph Baena over the years, with the pair sharing interests such as bodybuilding and acting.

The actor, 75, fathered his son, now 25, with his family's housekeeper Mildred Baena, now 62, while married to Maria Shriver, now 67, who's the mother of his other kids.

Joseph was largely kept out of the spotlight until recent years, with him now pursuing opportunities in the public eye - like having competed on Dancing with the Stars last year.

We've taken a look at what Joseph and Arnold have said about their relationship, including the former discussing some of the support he's had and the latter sharing his pride.

Close relationship

Joseph Baena (right) is the youngest of Arnold Schwarzenegger's (left) five children (Instagram/ @joebaena)

Arnold spoke about his son Joseph in his self-titled Netflix docuseries, saying during the third episode that he is a "fantastic man" and commenting: "He makes me feel proud".

He added: "It was wrong, what I did, but I don't want to make Joseph feel that he's not welcome in this world, because he's very much welcome in this world and I love him."

While supporting Arnold's show FUBAR last month, Joseph told Entertainment Tonight: "He's an amazing father. He's a great person to look up to [and] the smartest man I know."

Joseph spoke about their relationship last year when he was a guest on the Unwaxed podcast, saying: "Now I'm like so close to my dad and we joke around about everything."

Financial support

Arnold has shared pride about Joseph and supported his son over the years (Instagram/ @joebaena)

Joseph has also opened up about his father financially supporting him. He told the Unwaxed podcast last year: "I'm really grateful that my dad helped me get through college."

He however said on the podcast that he was encouraged to support himself after graduating from Pepperdine University in 2019, which he said led to him venturing into real estate.

"Right when college was done it was just like 'you go. You're on your own.' I was like 'oh, s***.' I need a job and I was not getting any of the acting roles [I wanted]," Joseph said.

Further suggesting that he began to financially support himself, he said: "The reason I got into real estate was because I needed a job. I needed to pay my rent [and] bills."

Training partner

The pair have both shown an interest in bodybuilding and are said to train together in the gym (projoe/Instagram)
Joseph recently teased that he is starting to catch up his dad when it comes to weight training (Joseph Baena/Instagram)

Joseph is understood to have followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a bodybuilder and has previously spoken about training with former world champion Arnold.

During an interview with Extra last month, he described his father as the "best training partner" and teased that he is starting to catch up to Arnold when it comes to weights.

He further commented whilst talking to the outlet that Arnold "pushes [him] so much in the gym," with him adding that the father and son duo "love" getting to train together.

Acting coach

Joseph wants to follow in his dad's footsteps by becoming an actor (Getty Images)

Joseph has also shown an interest in being an actor. He told Extra last month that Arnold, who's enjoyed a decades-long career in the industry, is supporting him with that ambition.

"With anything that I do, but especially acting, he's really supportive and always y'know pushing me to work really hard and make it my own and do it on my own," Joseph said.

He added: "His main piece of advice has always been, do the reps - and it sounds just like the gym. But it really makes sense because it's all about practice, practice, practice".

Discussing his career, he told Men's Health: "I'm very prideful in the sense that if I use my dad's contacts or ask him for favours, I wonder what honour is that gonna bring me?"

He instead suggested that when he attends auditions "they don't know who [he is]" because he doesn't share the same surname as his father, adding: "I know it's all me."

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