The Fornicator - daddy of all roles he managed to keep secret

LOS ANGELES: The stories were flying around eight years ago, when Arnold Schwarzenegger was in the midst of his unlikely attempt to unseat Gray Davis, California's Democratic governor: Mr Schwarzenegger, married to Maria Shriver, had fathered a child with a woman who worked at the couple's Brentwood estate.

Mr Schwarzenegger's advisers had heard it. So had top aides to Mr Davis, whom Mr Schwarzenegger would go on to unseat. But in the closing days of what was a circus of a campaign, the rumours got pushed aside as Mr Schwarzenegger dealt with a barrage of seemingly more credible allegations that he had groped and molested women during his years as a film star.

In fact, Mr Schwarzenegger acknowledged this week, he had fathered a child with a member of his household staff a few years before running for office, a secret he said he kept from his wife and that aides said he kept from them. Through much of her pregnancy and for the seven years that Mr Schwarzenegger served as governor of California, the woman continued to work in the couple's home.

Mildred Patricia Baena ... had Arnold Schwarzenegger's child.

The woman at the centre of the storm has been revealed by celebrity gossip sites as Mildred Patricia Baena, 50, known as ''Patty''. Photographs of Ms Baena have appeared on websites TMZ and Radar Online.

Taken from public social networking sites, they showed her with a boy who bears a resemblance to Mr Schwarzenegger. She worked for him for more than 20 years as a housekeeper, though never lived in his Brentwood mansion. Some of the couple's friends said they now believe the child was an occasional presence in the house.

Mr Schwarzenegger's deception ended on Monday night when he released a statement acknowledging his child. Ms Shriver issued her own statement the next day. She had moved out of the house and into a Beverly Hills hotel earlier this year.

Arnold Schwarzenegger ... "I am truly sorry."

''As a mother, my concern is for the children,'' she said. ''I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment.''

The family scandal unfolded on social networks. One of their sons, Patrick, 17, posted his distress on his Twitter account, presenting his name as Patrick Shriver.

Some days you feel terrible, he wrote, borrowing lyrics from a Fort Minor song, including a profanity to convey that feeling.

His sister Katherine, 21, wrote: ''This is definitely not easy but I appreciate your love and support as I begin to heal and move forward.''

The disclosure set off a clamour in a city that has always been intrigued by this marriage of show business and politics.

''The Schwarzenegger love child scandal has arrived,'' Gawker.com announced.

The child was said to be a boy aged about 14.

Several friends said the mother had been working around the house, pregnant, at the same time Ms Shriver was pregnant with the youngest of the couple's four children, Christopher, who is 13.

[Source : smh.com.au]