Former publicist: Arnold covered up affair

NEW YORK, May 18 (UPI) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger's former press secretary says she never suspected the married film star was having an affair while running for governor of California.

Schwarzenegger said Tuesday he and broadcast journalist Maria Shriver, his wife of 25 years, separated after she learned he fathered a child with a household employee, who left this year after working for the family for two decades.

Sheri Annis, Schwarzenegger's press secretary during his first political campaign, spoke exclusively about the news with MSNBC Tuesday.

"I was his spokesperson at the time. Listen, if he concealed it from Maria, he certainly concealed it from me. Maria had his back on every occasion and it was known that she was always looking out for him. So he did a very good cover-up job on this one," Annis said.

"And I take no pleasure in today's news. I hate to see it for any family, but especially someone who I knew and really did enjoy working with and for. And I saw a marriage that was -- it was a partnership, a real partnership, political partnership, entertainment partnership. They worked together well at the time."

Annis went on to say Schwarzenegger "was always quite professional" with her.

"I would receive these questions, have you been -- has he ever made an advance toward you or whatnot, which he certainly never did because everyone knew he was potentially running for political office at the time. We were sort of feeling our way to see if he might go in that direction," she said. "I never saw any inkling of this. He never pretended to be a squeaky clean candidate. So that's the difference here between he and other candidates and other figures. But I had no indication that something, a bombshell like this was waiting."