Arnold Schwarzenegger has pacemaker fitted following open-heart surgeries

Arnold Schwarzenegger has had a pacemaker fitted after undergoing three open-heart surgeries.

During Monday's episode of his podcast Arnold's Pump Club, the 76-year-old revealed that he recently had a pacemaker fitted.

"Last Monday, I had surgery to become a little bit more of a machine: I got a pacemaker," Arnold 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."

The former bodybuilder continued, "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."

Arnold underwent elective heart surgery in 1997 to replace his congenital aortic valve. He subsequently had surgeries to replace his pulmonary valve in 2018 and aortic valve in 2020.

The Terminator star went on to reassure fans that his recovery from the operation was going well.

"First of all, I want you to know I'm doing great!" he shared. "I had my surgery on Monday, and by Friday, I was already at a big environmental event with my friend and fellow fitness crusader Jane Fonda."

The Golden Globe winner then explained that he had been encouraged to have the pacemaker fitted because of an "irregular" heartbeat.

"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," the former Governor of California said. "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."

He added, "That's life with a genetic heart issue. But you won't hear me complaining."