Arnold Schwarzenegger Turns 77: All About His Relationship with Physical Therapist Heather Milligan

After first meeting during a physical therapy session in 2012, the pair are still going strong over a decade later

Arnold Schwarzenegger has the support of his girlfriend Heather Milligan as he hits 77.

The actor-turned-politician first met Milligan, a physical therapist, 49, while recovering from shoulder surgery in 2012, sparking what would become a decade-long romance. In honor of Schwarzenegger’s 77th birthday on Tuesday, July 30, here’s a look inside the pair’s love story — from their meet cute at a physical therapy session to Milligan’s qualities the actor loves most.

When the Terminator star first met his future girlfriend, it wasn’t for a date.

Schwarzenegger had recently separated from his wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver. Professionally, the actor was recovering from shoulder surgery and gearing up for a role in the 2013 thriller Escape Plan alongside Sylvester Stallone — and he wanted to get into better shape after his operation.

"I said, 'I got to go do this movie, and I bring a lot of punches and I have fights with Sly and I want to have my act together,'" Schwarzenegger recalled telling his surgeon in a 2023 interview with PEOPLE.

According to the actor, the surgeon replied: “There's only one [person], it's Heather — any athlete, I always send them to her, because she's the only one that really knows what they’re talking about.”

As the story goes, Schwarzenegger had a session with Milligan, and after he had finished Escape Plan, the actor reached out again. “I called her back and took her out for lunch to say thank you,” said the performer. “And then one thing led to the next.”

In February 2013, early into their budding relationship, reports emerged that Schwarzenegger and Milligan had gone on several dates in Southern California, dining together in Santa Monica and taking a drive through Brentwood.

Over the years, the two lovebirds have been no stranger to public outings around the globe: They donned traditional Austrian garb at a White Sausage Party in Schwarzenegger’s native country in 2016, attended a Los Angeles Lakers game as a couple in 2018 and took a casual bike ride through Brentwood to celebrate Father’s Day in 2020.

Publicly reflecting on their relationship to PEOPLE in 2023, Schwarzenegger said, “I love that she’s into working. She’s clearly independent.”

Even though Milligan “grew up tough,” he said, she had managed to put herself through college and even earn a degree in business by bartending on the side. “She just is driven as hell,” Schwarzenegger added.

Since the pair first met, Milligan has expanded her business, Elite OrthoSport, into one of the largest physical therapy clinics on the West Side of Los Angeles, serving high profile clientele that include names from the NFL, NBA and UFC.

“I schmooze with them while they're getting therapy, because I admire them, they're great athletes," Schwarzenegger told PEOPLE, “even though a lot of them make me feel like a little chicken.”

The former California governor even noted that his girlfriend, who was formerly a competitive gymnast, has convinced him to watch professional sports together. "She's heavily into football and all of the sports, basketball, baseball and all of that,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview with PEOPLE earlier this year. “So because of her, I'll watch also," adding that he wouldn’t take sides ahead of the 2024 Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers.

Schwarzenegger, himself the father of five children, has also said he cherishes the love his girlfriend shows for her own relatives, calling her the “driving force” in her family as she cared for her two parents, each battling cancer only two years apart.

"Every night, she's with her grandmother on the phone for at least a half an hour," the actor told PEOPLE. "I mean, that's when you get to know a person, the heart they have."

Milligan even appears to have bonded with her boyfriend’s kids — she was photographed alongside his son Patrick at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards in 2017 and was out to eat with his daughter Katherine and now-son-in-law Chris Pratt in 2018.

“Chris and Katherine met up with Arnold and his girlfriend Heather for Sunday breakfast at the FIG restaurant,” a source told PEOPLE after the breakfast in 2018. “Arnold seemed happy that Chris and Katherine joined him.”

And Milligan’s love even extends to Schwarzenegger’s pets, as she regularly shares photos and videos of her boyfriend’s pony Lulu to Instagram.

“We have so many things in common,” the actor told PEOPLE in 2023. “I think the world of her.”

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Read the original article on People.