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Schwarzenegger talks sex, politics on Winfrey show

Star-turned-candidate appears with wife for interview

Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey.
Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger
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(CNN) -- Appearing Monday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver discussed his hopes of becoming the next governor of California as well as what he called his "over-the-top" comments on sex and other topics in the past.

It was the first joint sit-down interview for Schwarzenegger and Shriver in their 17 years of marriage. They were interviewed in Chicago, Illinois before a federal appeals court ruled Monday to delay California's October 7 gubernatorial recall election.

At one point, the movie star-turned-candidate acknowledged making statements during the 1970s to garner headlines for his fledgling sport of bodybuilding, although he said he doesn't remember details of interviews he gave.

A 1977 interview in Oui, a now-defunct adult magazine, has attracted attention for Schwarzenegger's remarks on group sex and drug use.

Those were times when he would say that working out was better than sex, "and all those kinds of things," Schwarzenegger told Winfrey, a longtime family friend who appeared in the couple's 1986 wedding.

Winfrey and her studio audience burst into laughter at Schwarzenegger's comments. A chuckling Shriver -- the daughter of President John Kennedy's sister, Eunice Kennedy Shriver -- reached over to put her hand across her husband's mouth.

"My mother is watching this show. My mother is watching this show. My God," Shriver said.

"I understand. Wherever Eunice is, don't pay any attention," Schwarzenegger responded, smiling.

Shriver also sought to put down reports that her husband is a womanizer, saying he is "a man who is the exact opposite."

Asked about critics who say she is a Kennedy woman who "looks the other way," Shriver said, "That ticks me off. I am my own woman. I have not been quote 'bred' to look the other way."

She added: "I make my opinion based on the man sitting in front of me. I know the man that I'm married to."

Shriver, an NBC News correspondent, said her husband had been "gracious" and "supportive" of her throughout her broadcast career.

At another point, Shriver said her husband makes her coffee every morning and "tells me that he loves me."

"That's a great thing to have," she said, adding that her husband was concerned people will now think he's "whipped."

A still-smiling Schwarzenegger responded: "You can't say all of those things because of the guys. They think I'm the 'Terminator.' Let them believe that."

Schwarzenegger said he is excited "like a little puppy" at the idea of being governor. The Austrian native said that he has always wanted to give back to his adopted homeland.

"Becoming governor, I can help 36 million people in California. That's what I'm thinking about. That's what I'm excited about," said the GOP candidate.

Shriver said the election would mark the first time she will have ever voted for a Republican.

According to voter polls, Schwarzenegger is the leading GOP candidate seeking to replace Democratic Gov. Gray Davis in the recall election.

Schwarzenegger's chief Republican rival appears to be state Sen. Tom McClintock.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the state of California needed to eliminate inadequate voting machines before the election could proceed.

The court stayed its order for seven days to allow appeals. If the ruling stands, the recall vote could be moved to March, when it would share space on the ballot with California's presidential primary.


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