Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announce separation

From ew, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced late Monday that they are separating after 25 years of marriage, People reports. The news comes five months after Schwarzenegger ended his second term as the Republican governor of California. In a joint statement, Schwarzenegger, 63, and Shriver, 55, say that they have been living through “a time of great personal and professional transition,” and that they are currently living apart “while we work on the future of our relationship.” The couple have four children together, aged from 14 to 21.

Schwarzenegger has been in the news the last few months for a different reason, as he decides how he will transition back to show-business after nearly eight years in politics, including the character-based thriller Cry Macho and a possible return to the Terminator franchise that first made him a superstar. Last month, he announced in the pages of EW that his first project would be the animated series The Governator, which posited that after ending his career in the governor’s mansion, Schwarzenegger became a high-tech, crime-fighting superhero. “We’re using all the personal elements of Arnold’s life,” explained co-creator Stan Lee. “We’re using his wife [Maria Shriver]. We’re using his kids. We’re using the fact that he used to be governor.” Schwarzenegger, however, confessed that, as of six weeks ago, Shriver was unaware she was going to be a character on the show. “I have never had a conversation with Maria about any of this,” the former governor said. “It will be a big surprise for her.”