Arnold Schwarzenegger Opens Up About Girlfriend Heather Milligan: ‘I Think the World of Her’ (Exclusive)

Arnold Schwarzenegger opened up about his decades-long relationship with girlfriend Heather Milligan.

During a wide-ranging conversation in this week’s issue of PEOPLE about the upcoming release of his motivational book Be Useful: Seven Tools for LifeThe 76-year-old actor says his relationship with Milligan, a Los Angeles physical therapist, is “fantastic.”

“We have so much in common,” he said Terminator says the star. “I think the whole world is. I love what she does. She is obviously independent. She’s just driven as hell.”

Schwarzenegger credits Milligan, 48, with putting her through college and getting a master’s degree in student loan business and bartending jobs, noting that she “grew up tough.” He also said he admired her for being the “driving force” in her family, caring for both her late parents as they battled cancer two years apart.

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Schwarzenegger adds that Milligan recently returned from Nebraska, where she was helping out with her grandmother. Every evening, he is on the phone with his grandmother for at least half an hour, he says. “I mean, that’s when you get to know the person, the heart they have.”

Milligan and Schwarzenegger met in 2012 after his shoulder surgery while he was preparing to shoot the 2013 film. Escape plan with Sylvester Stallone (who, coincidentally, had shoulder surgery the same day).

Wanting to get into fighting shape in just three months before the cameras roll, the star asked her surgeon for a recommendation. “I said, ‘I’ve got to go make this movie, and I’m taking a lot of punches and I’m fighting with Sly and I want to act together.'”

“And so he says, ‘There’s only one (person), that’s Heather — any athlete, I always send them to her, because she’s the only one who really knows what they’re talking about.’ So I went to see her, and then after my therapy was over, after I was done with the movie, I called her back and took her out to lunch to thank her. And then one thing led to the next.”

Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger with their children.

Katherine Schwarzenegger/ Instagram

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Milligan has expanded her business over the past decade and today runs Elite OrthoSport, one of the largest physical therapy clinics on the west side of Los Angeles, says Schwarzenegger, who likes to stop by to chat with clients that include NFL players, NBA stars and UFC champions.

“I make love to them while they are in therapy, because I admire them, they are great athletes,” he says and adds with a smile, “Although many of them make me feel like a little chicken.”

Schwarzenegger also spoke about his friendly relationship with ex-wife Maria Shriver. The former couple’s divorce was finalized in 2021, after Shriver, 67, filed ten years earlier.

The couple continue to make regular plans together with their children Katherine, 33, Christina, 32, Patrick, 30, and Christopher, 26, including a recent celebration of Patrick’s 30th birthday.

Schwarzenegger says he and Shriver, who are now grandparents to daughters Katherine — Lyli, 3, and Eloise, 16 months, with husband Chris Pratt — prioritize such family moments, despite now leading separate lives.

“We always communicate about the kids, about the holidays, about birthday parties and Mother’s Day and Christmas,” she tells PEOPLE. “Even though it’s a different relationship, there’s no reason for me to feel anything but love for her.”

Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life is out on October 10th and is now available for pre-order on amazon.com.

For more from Arnold Schwarzenegger, pick up this week’s issue PEOPLEon newsstands on Friday.

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Source: HIS Education