Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to get back together & Maria Shriver is all meh

Yesterday, Arnold Schwarzenegger had a really big day. He faced down the press in the immediate aftermath of his separation announcement with Maria Shriver; he had to give a speech at a Jewish center in LA; he faced down a growing stream of rumors about his wandering eye during his 25-year marriage and his most recent (young) mistresses; he had lunch with some woman, and he made sure the photographers got a shot of him kissing the woman’s neck:

Does it look like a friendly peck between two people who are likely close friends? Sure. It doesn’t look all hot and bothered, and Arnold and this woman didn’t even embrace. Still… odd.

Anyway, Arnold spoke about his separation from Maria while he was at the Jewish center. He makes it sound like they still have a great relationship and that they’re working on it:

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have separated, but they’re still in contact and “taking it one day at a time,” says the actor-politician.

“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,” Schwarzenegger said Tuesday night at the 63rd Israel Independence Day Celebration hosted by the Consulate General of Israel at the Skirball Cultural Center in L.A.

“I just spoke to Maria an hour ago before I came here,” said the former governor of California before accepting an award for enhancing the economic ties between California and Israel. “We both were saying the same thing – we’re extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people, by so many wonderful friends.”

Schwarzenegger, 63, and Shriver, 55, said in a joint statement Monday that they are going through a “time of great personal and professional transition,” but they remain amiable.

“We both love each other very much,” Schwarzenegger said Tuesday. “We’re very fortunate to have four extraordinary children. And we’re taking it one day at a time. The bottom line is we want to thank all the people for their great, great support.”

[From People]

Sounds good. TMZ also reports that Maria was basically just sick of being ignored, and that’s why she asked for a separation, and that since then, Arnold has been trying to win her back. Of course, it’s not going to stop the tabloids from digging up dirt, and why not? If Arnold has been bonin’ everything with two legs and a pulse, I would like to know. According to Radar, Maria would too. A source tells Radar, “Maria Shriver has been thinking about this divorce for a long time. She’s been really unhappy. She is from a political family so she never would have done anything while Arnold was in office. She knows what the right thing to do is and she did that while he was governor, but she was struggling with the issues in their marriage. She’s been thinking about separating for a while. She just needed to wait for the right time.” The source also said that Maria “didn’t care” about Arnold’s return to Hollywood because “He’s been in Hollywood for years and that is what his career is.”

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, Arnold and Maria’s son Patrick has chimed in on his parents’ split. Several weeks ago, I was going to cover Patrick’s Details interview, and I was going to point out what an entitled little d-bag he is. In the end, I didn’t cover it though – you can read the Details piece here. Anyway, Patrick got on his Twitter yesterday and tweeted: “Appreciate all your messages. Small speed bump I’n life, luckily we own hummers, we will cruise right over it. All will be okay. #peace”. Ah, yes. Why go to a marriage counselor when you have Hummers. Mini d-bag.

Photos courtesy of WENN & Pacific Coast News.

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