Maria Shriver recently revealed her childhood desire to become a nun. The journalist admitted she once feared a divine calling would force her to cut her hair. Born into a Catholic family and educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, the ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger explored the idea.

On May 21, Shriver shared a short interview clip in which the host asked her, “Did you ever think about being a nun?”

In response, she said, “Yes.”

Later, sharing more about her interest, the ex-wife of the Austrian Oak said, “And so I remember asking the nuns there, like, well, how did you become a nun? What happened?

And they would say, well, you know, this nun said to me, well, you know, I used to be a girl just like you, and I was at home in my room, and I had this experience with Jesus and with God, and they called me to become a nun.”

However, after learning about the difficult life a nun has to live, the mother of four, including Katherine Schwarzenegger and Patrick Schwarzenegger, took a distinctive approach.

During the interview, she admitted, “And I would go home every night, shut the door, and I'm like, don't you dare come in…. I don't want to do it.

And I did it a lot, you know, because I was, like, so worried that I was going to get called. and then I'd have to cut my hair…”

Currently, she is definitely not a nun. Shriver is an American journalist and writer, and the founder of the Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She also earned 2 Emmy Awards from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for “television show with a conscience.”

However, that was not the first time Shriver had made contact with the Nun.

Maria Shriver Went to a Convent After the Split With Arnold Schwarzenegger

During her appearance on the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast on February 6, 2023, Shriver admitted that after her marriage to the bodybuilding legend ended, she went to a convent and talked to a nun.

She said, “I went to a convent, a cloistered convent, and to be in silence and look for advice.

And 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. And I felt like I was in a scene out of ‘The Sound of Music,’ you know?”

Shriver continued, “She goes, ‘You can’t come live here … but you do have permission to go out and become Maria.”

According to the ex-wife of the 7-time Mr. Olympia, these words affected her deeply.

She added, “I was, like, sobbing. 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.”

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Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil