The Los Angeles Times broke the story (I think) and now it’s official: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have separated after 25 years of marriage. Arnold and Maria were married in the 1980s, and quickly became the go-to “WTF?” couple at the nexus of politics, media and celebrity. Their marriage seemed pretty happy though, and they have four children together (three of whom are already adults). On a personal level, I always bought that they loved and adored each other. CB suggests that Arnold might be in the midst of some kind of mid-life (end of life, really) crisis, but I genuinely thought Arnold worshipped his wife. True, he probably flirted and/or harassed other women. I don’t know… I guess I’m just saying that this is kind of sad.

After a 25-year marriage as one of the nation’s leading power couples in Hollywood and politics, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have split up, they say in a joint statement.

“This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us,” they say. “After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion, and prayer, we came to this decision together.

“At this time, we are living apart, while we work on the future of our relationship,” they continue. “We are continuing to parent our four children together. They are the light and the center of both of our lives. We consider this a private matter and neither we nor any of our friends or family will have further comment. We ask for compassion and respect from the media and the public.”

Shriver, 55, a TV journalist and member of the Kennedy dynasty, and Schwarzenegger, 63, the Austrian-born bodybuilder/action movie hero who became a Republican California governor, have seemed like an unlikely couple since they married in 1986.

They had four children, ages 14, 18, 20 and 21, and long projected the image of a close and loving couple, despite – and sometimes even because of – their differences. During a 2003 political campaign, Shriver strongly defended her husband against allegations he had a history of groping women while he was an actor, and Schwarzenegger went on to become governor.

Schwarzenegger left the governor’s office last January after an increasingly difficult term, and there have been reports he’ll re-start his movie career, including a role in another Terminator film.

[From People]

The LAT notes that Maria is the one who has moved out of their Brentwood mansion, and that she’s been out of the house for weeks. The paper also notes that the marriage has perhaps been struggling since Arnold left office, and it seems like they have been living separate lives. Oh, and Maria’s dad died in January, and their next-to-last youngest child is about to go away to college. Death of a parent and a somewhat empty nest? Yeah, Maria is probably going through a really rough time right now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was the one to instigate the separation.

CB does think that it might be Arnold being a d-bag though – he’s trying to jumpstart his long-dead action career once again, and he’s signed on to THREE new movies, including another Terminator movie.

Their 25th wedding anniversary was on April 26. Sad!

UPDATE: Sorry about that, I said it the wrong way – the 14 year old kid is not going to college, their 18 year old (Patrick, who is kind of a d-bag) is going to college. It’s not really an empty nest, just kind of an empty nest.

Photos courtesy of WENN.