"She’s unbelievable, because we have so many things in common," he told People in 2023. "Our relationship is fantastic. I think the world of her. I love that she’s into working. She’s clearly independent. She just is driven as hell."
For Schwarzenegger, that is not a small compliment. Work has long been one of his core operating principles.
He told LAist in 2023 that his father taught him as a child in Austria to be "useful," a lesson that stayed with him for decades.
"It stayed with me as a method, so much so that I always wanted to perform and do more," the Terminator star said. "It became such a big part of my life that even when I sleep in, sometimes past 6:00 in the morning, I feel guilty."
He added that he still believes "the more you work your ass off, the further you're going to go. If you look for shortcuts, it's not going to happen."
His split from Maria Shriver still shaped the story
Schwarzenegger met Milligan after a major personal reset. He and Maria Shriver separated in 2011 after 25 years of marriage, and their divorce was finalized in 2021.
Schwarzenegger has five children: Katherine Schwarzenegger, 36, Christina Schwarzenegger, 34, Patrick Schwarzenegger, 33, and Christopher Schwarzenegger, 28, with Shriver, and Joseph Baena, 28, with Mildred Baena.
The end of his marriage to Shriver was public and complicated, though Schwarzenegger has described their post-split relationship as close and family-focused.
He told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that he did not miss being married, while acknowledging the breakup was "very, very difficult."
"Eventually, you move on," he said. "I have a wonderful girlfriend...I’m really proud of her, and I love her. At the same time, I love my wife. She and I are really good friends and very close, and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids. Even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mother’s Day together, the Christmases together, all birthdays, everything together."
That arrangement appears to be something Milligan understands. While there is no public trail of bonding moments between Milligan and Shriver, Schwarzenegger has continued to spend holidays and family occasions with Shriver and their children.
Milligan has become part of the family rhythm
Milligan has also spent time with Schwarzenegger’s children. She was seen with Patrick and Christopher during a 2022 trip to Germany for Oktoberfest, and she has gone to dinner in Los Angeles with Katherine and Katherine’s husband, Chris Pratt.
Schwarzenegger has also spoken warmly about Milligan’s own family ties. He called her the "driving force" in her family and said that watching her speak to her grandmother on the phone every night showed him something essential about her character.
"That's when you get to know a person, the heart they have," he told People.
At home, the couple’s life includes a full animal roster at Schwarzenegger’s property in Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood: dogs Dutch, Noodle, Cherry and Schnitzel, donkey Lulu and miniature pony Whiskey. Not exactly a minimalist household.
Sports, work and a shared appetite for staying active
Milligan’s profession is not a background detail in the relationship. It is one of the clearest overlaps between them.
Schwarzenegger told CBS News in 2023, "I think the most important thing is to keep active, and to keep the mind active. So, to me, life is about living, not existing."
Milligan’s work keeps her close to elite sports, and Schwarzenegger seems to enjoy both her expertise and the access it gives him to athletes. On New Heights in 2023, he told Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce that Milligan "treats a lot of football players and boxers and UFC fighters and basketball players" and is "really a fanatic about sports, especially about football."
"So, now I'm sitting with her and she's explaining if I have any questions," he said.
He also said he likes visiting her clinic so he can "schmooze" with her patients because he admires them as athletes, joking that some of them make him feel "like a little chicken."
In 2025, Schwarzenegger told GQ that when he first met Milligan, she offered to treat him at home, but he preferred going into the physical therapy center. He connected that to another habit: even though he has a well-equipped gym at home, he still trains regularly at Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach.
The public version of Schwarzenegger often looks built from ambition, discipline and spectacle. His private relationship with Milligan appears to run on something simpler: mutual independence, shared work ethic and a daily life that lets him keep moving.
"Today I feel good where I am," he told People. "I’m much wiser now. I’m much smarter. I think more about people. I think more about people’s feelings."
And as he put it plainly on New Heights, he "fell in love" with his physical therapist.
