Arnold Schwarzenegger looked healthy and happy during an outing in Beverly Hills on Thursday, following his announcement that he had a pacemaker fitted last month.
The Terminator icon, 76, flashed his megawatt smile as he exited the celebrity hotspot restaurant, Via Alloro.
Dressed in a suave brown leather jacket and matching pants, the star exuded charm with his distinguished white beard.
After exchanging greetings with friends outside the venue, he made his way to the valet station to collect his car.
The fun-filled dinner date comes after Arnold revealed he underwent the pacemaker procedure after previously having three open heart surgeries, explaining that he had an irregular heartbeat for a few years.
Arnold Schwarzenegger looked healthy and happy during an outing in Beverly Hills on Thursday, following his announcement that he had a pacemaker fitted last month
The Terminator icon, 76, flashed his megawatt smile as he exited the celebrity hotspot restaurant, Via Alloro
He admitted that despite his famous athleticism, the condition had ‘worn him out’ and that he had ‘struggled’ at the Arnold Sports Festival earlier this month.
Arnold explained that the long days he spends at the festival, going to all the sports and meeting the fans made him realise it was time for him to get the pacemaker fitted.
He first underwent elective heart surgery in 1997 to replace a defective, congenital aortic heart valve.
He also had his aortic valve replaced in Cleveland, Ohio in 2020, to go with his new pulmonary valve that he had inserted in April 2018 in Los Angeles.
Speaking on his podcast Arnold’s Pump Club, Arnold said: ‘Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker.’
He explained: ‘They also advised me that it was time to go through with this because some scar tissue from my previous surgery had made my heartbeat irregular.
‘It had been like that for a few years, so I stayed in touch with my medical team and visited in person at least once a year to get a full check-up and see how my heart was doing.
‘My doctors told me it was more important than ever to stay on top of the situation, and I checked in all of the time, sharing heart rate information from home.
The fun-filled dinner date comes after Arnold revealed he underwent the pacemaker procedure after previously having three open heart surgeries, explaining that he had an irregular heartbeat for a few years
He admitted that despite his famous athleticism, the condition had ‘worn him out’ and that he had ‘struggled’ at the Arnold Sports Festival earlier this month
Arnold reassured his fans that he is recovering well and joked he now has a ‘machine part’, just like his Terminator character (pictured with Jane Fonda after surgery)
‘We knew the heartbeat was irregular, and my fantastic team watched it like a hawk. They told me they would let me know when it was time for a pacemaker.
‘I went in for my normal checkup at the beginning of March on my way to the Arnold Sports Festival, and they did a full series of tests. When I got home to LA, like it was fate, I was talking to one of my best friends.
‘They told me that they had a pacemaker implanted, it was a quick recovery, and their energy levels were back to what they were used to.’
The former professional bodybuilder then admitted: ‘That’s one thing you learn about an irregular heartbeat: all that extra work your heart does wears you out.
‘Man, if I can be honest with you, I struggled with those 16-hour days at the Arnold Sports Festival US at the beginning of March and in the UK last week, visiting as many sports as possible and walking through those crowds of hundreds of thousands of fitness fanatics.’
He went on: ‘The same day I talked to my friend, one of my doctors called to tell me that after looking at all of my results and data and knowing I had six weeks until it was time to film FUBAR Season 2, it was time to go for it. The doctors told me they want many more seasons of FUBAR, and this was the best way!
‘I told them I’d stop in Cleveland on my way home from the UK, and we’d do it. Monday, I went under and got my new machine part installed.
‘That’s life with a genetic heart issue. But you won’t hear me complaining.’
Arnold reassured his fans that he is recovering well and joked he now has a ‘machine part’, just like his Terminator character.
He added: ‘I want to thank my whole team at the Cleveland Clinic. All of the doctors and nurses took amazing care of me and made the surgery as painless as possible.’
And while he lamented that he wouldn’t be able to hit the gym hard for a while, he insisted he was doing ‘great’.
Arnold admitted that it went against his nature to be upfront about his medical issues, as in Austria, he had been taught to keep such matter private.
But he said that knowing speaking out helped others with similar conditions had convinced him to open up.
He said: ‘I have to tell you, just saying this to all of you goes against so much of my upbringing in Austria, where nobody — ever — talked about medical issues. Everything related to healthcare was kept to yourself.
‘But I’ve gotten so many messages and emails from people who were born with a bicuspid aortic valve, like me, telling me that talking about my valve replacement surgeries has given them courage and hope to deal with their own.
‘So, since I know that going against my secretive instinct and being transparent helps people, what choice do I have?’
And while he lamented that he wouldn’t be able to hit the gym hard for a while, he insisted he was doing ‘great’
He added: ‘I could have kept it a secret. But I know that we have more than 750,000 subscribers now (775,000 to be exact — the village is a city now!), and a lot of you are probably dealing with your own health challenges.
‘I want you to know you aren’t alone. And if you’re putting something off out of fear, I hope I inspire you to listen to your doctors and take care of yourself.
‘This village is a place for us to be open and honest because it’s impossible to be truly positive when you keep everything bottled up.
‘That’s what Arnold’s Pump Club is all about. There are weights that none of us can lift alone. But together, we can lift anything — we can lift up the world. You are never alone here.’
