LOS ANGELES: Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver said on Monday they are separating “while we work on the future of our relationship.”

The surprise announcement came four months after Schwarzenegger, the Austrian-born former bodybuilder turned Hollywood action star, left office in January after serving two terms as governor.

“This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us,” Schwarzenegger and Shriver said in a statement. “After a great deal of thought, reflection, discussion, and prayer, we came to this decision together.”

The couple, who married in 1986, did not mention whether they would divorce but said they were living separately.

“We are continuing to parent our four children together.

They are the light and the center of both of our lives,” the statement said. “We consider this a private matter, and neither we nor any of our friends or family will have further comment.”

Schwarzenegger said in February he was ready to make movies again and announced recently he is developing a television show and comic book based on his political nickname “The Governator.”

An industry source told Reuters last month Schwarzenegger was likely to star in a new “Terminator” movie that would reprise his most famous screen role as the almost indestructible cyborg from the future.

Shriver, an author and former journalist for NBC, is active with a number of volunteer organizations. Her mother was the sister of assassinated US President John F. Kennedy and her father, Sargent Shriver, was the Democratic candidate for vice president in 1972.