The former gov leaving Barney’s New York yesterday …
Arnold Schwarzenegger made his first public comments yesterday about his marital split. The former governor and his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, released a statement Tuesday to announce their separation, and he commented further at an evening event.
The former actor attended the 63rd Israel Independence Day last night, and took the opportunity to talk about his family and friends.
He said: “I want to take a moment and thank our many friends and family for the tremendous amount of support and love that you have given us in the last 24 hours. I just spoke to Maria an hour before I came here … We both were saying the same thing — we’re extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, by so many wonderful friends.”
“We both love each other very much. We’re very fortunate to have four extraordinary children. And we’re taking it one day at a time. The bottom line is that we want to thank all the people for their great, great support.”
The marital discord within Arnold and Maria’s marriage had Shriver considering divorce two years ago. She acknowledges that the only reason she put a separation on the back burner had to do with the death of her parents: Eunice Kennedy Shriver died in August 2009 and Sargent Shriver, who had suffered from Alzheimer’s disease since 2003, died in January 2011.
The former actor is planning to return to film making, and his journalist wife will likely return to television – details here.
Check out a family photo and listen to Schwarzenegger’s comments below:
Photos: WENN