Arnold Schwarzenegger's Other Woman Outed: Housekeeper Mistress Identified

May 19, 2011

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Well, that took about as long as expected.

While it was just yesterday that Arnold Schwarzenegger let the cat cad out of the bag by disclosing his engagement in an extramarital affair with a longtime housekeeper that itself led to an out-of-wedlock child, today the identity of the other woman has been revealed.

Drumroll, please…

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Mildred Patricia Baena—who reportedly goes by "Patty"—is the 50-year-old woman at the center of the media storm today, E! News confirms. She was identified earlier this morning by ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times and pretty much every major news organization as the woman who gave birth to Arnold's illegitimate son.

The boy, whose name has not been disclosed as he is a minor, is now 13 years old.

Indeed, the reports proved true: Baena was working for Schwarzenegger and his now obviously estranged wife Maria Shriver in their homes for 20 years and had a day-to-day relationship with the family, only retiring this January, around the same time Arnold left the office of the governor and informed Shriver of his betrayal.

A source described Baena to E! News as "a totally normal lady" whom the family deeply trusted, and to whom Arnold acted "very kind." The source said that the family never suspected the low-key housekeeper of anything untoward, and that the kids were very close to Baena and considered her a member of their extended family. However, despite earlier reports, Baena was never directly involved in caring for the couple's kids.

According to the New York Times, who cite associates of the couple, Baena and her son were often spotted in the home, and was indeed working at the estate while pregnant with the boy. Troublingly, at the same time, Maria was also pregnant with the youngest of her four children with Arnold, 13-year-old Christopher.

And for those looking for a cover-up, it's an almost unbelievably shallow pool of conspirators. Aside from Arnold and Mildred, no one seems to have been in on the secret—not Schwarzenegger's associates, not his aides, not other members of the household staff and by all accounts, most definitely not Maria—at least not until he informed her of the situation earlier this year, at which point she moved directly into a Beverly Hills hotel.

It's also unclear when or if the teenager was informed of the identity of his father, though Schwarzenegger has been giving financial support to the boy.

As for now, while Maria requested privacy for herself and her children in a brief statement yesterday, last night she took a chance on the slings and arrows to turn up in Chicago for a star-studded taping of two of the final episodes of The Oprah Winfrey Show. While it's not exactly the first stop someone looking to shun the media or public eye should go, Maria and Oprah have been friends for more than 30 years and—one would guess now more than ever—loyalty is obviously important to the political scion.

As for Baena, is no longer married—she initially told her friends, family and employers that her then-husband, whom she divorced in 2008, was the father of her child—has three other children, with whom she lives outside of Los Angeles. Otherwise, not many other details were immediately available.

But give it a minute.

(Originally published May 18, 2011, at 7:16 a.m. PT)

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