Despite the messy end to his 25 year marriage to Maria Shriver two years ago, speculation was rife that Arnold Schwarzenegger was angling for a romantic reunion with the mother of his four children.

But judging by pictures of the Terminator star on Monday, the 66-year-old actor has well and truly moved on.

Arnold was pictured kissing blonde physical therapist Heather Milligan after an early dinner together in Santa Monica, California.

Bearded Arnold wore a brown leather jacket, dark blue polo shirt and beige trousers while Heather sported black trousers, cardigan and a turquoise T-shirt as they emerged from the restaurant.

According to TMZ, they arrived and left separately with Arnold chatting to Heather through her car window before planting a kiss on her lips.

The couple were first spotted out together earlier this year, and the relationship appears to have gone from strength to strength despite Arnold seemingly professing a desire to re-unite with Maria.

Back in January, he told German's Bild newspaper: 'I still love Maria'. And he predicated an eventual reconciliation last October while promoting his memoir: Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story.

'It takes a lot of time to heal those wounds and to trust each other again,' the actor told Fox News. 'But, you know, I will make every effort.'

Maria filed for divorce after it was revealed that Austrian-born Arnold had fathered a child - Joseph - by their housekeeper Mildred Baena.

'It was a situation where I couldn't even blame anybody else but myself, because my wife was a fantastic wife,' Arnold said on Fox.

'The thing that I cherished the most, I destroyed by some stupid things that I've done. For me, it's important to kind of rebuild again, get the trust back with the kids, with my wife.'

Perhaps tellingly, Arnold and Maria have yet to finalise their divorce.

Back in May, sources told TMZ that there was a clear possibility that the couple, who both have houses in Brentwood, would get back together.

However, another insider said: 'Maria is more amenable to divorce after hearing Arnold has a girlfriend.