Maria Shriver Reveals She Went To A Convent After Arnold Schwarzenegger Split

Maria Shriver has opened up about her split from Arnold Schwarzenegger, during a recent appearance on the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast.

The 67-year-old journalist spoke with the Today host, revealing that following the couple’s decision to break up, sent her to a convent – but not for the reasons you’re thinking of.

Keep reading to find out more…

“I went to a convent, a cloistered convent, and to be in silence and look for advice,” Maria admitted, then explaining that the “Reverend Mother there … I actually have written about this but I — I haven’t shared it. She said, ‘I think you came here looking for permission.’”

Maria went on, saying that she “felt like I was in a scene out of The Sound of Music, you know? She goes, ‘You can’t come live here…but you do have permission to go out and become Maria.’”

She then shared that her words made an impact on her.

“I was, like, sobbing,” she says. “I had never given myself permission to — to feel, to be vulnerable, to be weak, to be brought to my knees. And the world did it to me. And then I was like, ‘OK, God, let’s go.’”

Maria and Arnold‘s divorce only became final in 2021, a full 10 years after their first separated.