I was in denial about my son, claims Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken for the first time about fathering a love child with his housekeeper and describes how his wife confronted him in a counselling session the day after he left office as Governor of California.

In an autobiography to be published next month, Schwarzenegger says he "wanted" for years to believe that the boy, who was born in 1997, was not his. But as he grew up the physical resemblance became so strong "I realised there was little doubt that he was my son".

Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, a niece of President John F Kennedy, separated last year after he confirmed he had fathered the boy, Joseph, with Mildred Baena, their Guatemalan-born housekeeper.

A copy of his book Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story, was obtained by the New York Daily News.

According to the newspaper, it details Schwarzenegger's visit to a couples' counselling session on January 4, 2011. He thought it was to help him and his wife, with whom he has four children, make the change from public to private life. He wrote: "The minute we sat down, the therapist turned to me and said 'Maria wanted to come here today and to ask about a child - whether you fathered a child with your housekeeper Mildred.' I told the therapist 'It's true'."

Schwarzenegger wrote that he should have told his wife a long time ago but "instead of doing the right thing I'd just put the truth in a mental compartment and locked it up where I didn't deal with it every day".

The former Mr Universe is said to recount in the book that his illegitimate son was conceived in the guesthouse of his home while his wife was away. At the time he was making Batman & Robin.

He blamed his own arrogance in believing "you'll get way with ignoring the rules" for what happened.

After realising the boy was his he kept the housekeeper in her job to "control the situation," the newspaper reported.

Shriver asked him about the parentage of the child several years earlier ago but he had denied it.

While Governor, the housekeeper's husband left her and Schwarzenegger began financially supporting her and the child. He reportedly reasoned that this was politically acceptable because he had not campaigned on family values.

Schwarzenegger wrote: "I blocked out the fact that as a husband and father, as a man with a family and wife, I was letting people down."

His explanation of the scandal comes at the end of the 624-page book which traces his journey from Austria to the United States and his achievements in bodybuilding, Hollywood and politics.

The book, which is published on Oct 1, is part of an effort to rehabilitate his image. This week sees the launch of the Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy, a think tank at the University of Southern California funded by money raised or donated by him. He also has a series of forthcoming films, including his first leading role in a decade.