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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Arnold and Maria trying to save marriage with couples therapy

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver were spotted leaving The Ivy restaurant in Santa Monica yesterday after sharing a cosy lunch together

California’s former first couple may not be terminating their relationship after all.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver have been going to couples therapy in a once-unthinkable bid to end their divorce proceedings and work things out, sources told The Post.

Shriver can’t bear the thought of divorce for religious reasons, while Schwarzenegger has told confidants he now realizes the error of his cheating ways, sources said.

Like a leading man out to get his lady, Schwarzenegger desperately wants a Hollywood ending, where he and Shriver walk off into the sunset together.

And she’s been willing to at least hear him out, pals said.

“Arnold and Maria are having marriage counseling to work through their issues to get back together,” a friend said.

“Maria is a devout Catholic and doesn’t believe in divorce, but is still struggling with the humiliation she endured by him.”

Shriver filed for divorce on July 1, about six weeks after it emerged he had sired an out-of-wedlock child with maid Mildred “Patty” Baena 14 years earlier.

“The Running Man” has been telling Shriver, at every chance, that he’s a changed man. A mutual friend is working out business and financial conditions for the potential reconciliation.

Schwarzenegger, 64, and Shriver, 56, tied the knot in April 1986, and have four kids.

“He is promising the moon and telling Maria he has completely changed his ways,” another friend of the couple said. “Maria’s friends are warning her to be careful, saying he’ll never change.

“Arnold is desperate to win her back, mostly because he realizes he can’t live without her, and partly because he doesn’t have the political clout without her. Winning her back would be the best way to show the world he has been forgiven for his transgressions.”

Both sides have retained prominent divorce lawyers, but the high-priced legal eagles have been remarkably silent in court.

Aside from pro forma papers filed in the weeks after July 1, Shriver v. Schwarzenegger has virtually vanished from the LA divorce docket. Judge Maren Elizabeth Nelson set the next hearing date for July 1, 2016, more than four years from now.

It’s a tell-tale sign both sides don’t need her help — because they’re either easily dividing assets, or the once-unhappy couple is working to patch things up.

Schwarzenegger parlayed his movie stardom into the ultimate role in California politics. He was elected the Golden State’s leading man in October 2003, as voters recalled Gov. Gray Davis.

The maid scandal hasn’t hurt Schwarzenegger’s post-political movie career. He has reportedly received eight-digit paydays for the yet-to-be released “The Expendables 2” and “Cry Macho.”

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