Arnie's All-Night Orgies

Arnold Schwarzenegger's wild past is threatening to derail his political ambitions after a 25-year-old interview, in which he boasted of orgies and drug-taking, came back to haunt him.

His comments in a 1977 issue of Oui - a men's magazine published by Playboy - risk alienating millions of conservative Californians.

In the interview, he revealed how he took part in an orgy with other bodybuilders.

He said "everybody jumped on" the woman involved and "took her upstairs where we all got together".

When asked if he was talking about a 'gang bang', Schwarzenegger answered, "Yes, but not everybody, just the guys who can in front of other guys.

"Having chicks around is the kind of thing that breaks up the intense training.

"It gives you relief, and then afterward you go back to the serious stuff."

At the time, 29-year-old Schwarzenegger was appearing in Pumping Iron, a documentary film on the bodybuilding circuit.

He also admitted that he took marijuana and hash, but no hard drugs.

Schwarzenegger runs for state governor in California on October 7.

After the interview was made public, he said he hoped voters would understand he was a different man today.

"I never lived my life to be governor of California," he told a Sacramento radio station.

"Obviously I made some statements that are ludicrous and crazy and outrageous because that's the way I was. I was always out there."

But the revelations come as a setback for the star, whose campaign has already been rocked by a surprisingly strong showing by Democratic rival Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.

Schwarzenegger has also begun, at last, to outline some of his policies.

He said he backed giving gay couples the right to form civil unions but opposed allowing them to marry because "marriage should be between a man and a woman".

He supports some gun control measures but believes believed the US constitution guarantees individuals the right to bear arms.

He also favours legalising marijuana for medical purposes and protecting a woman's right to abortion.