California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger turned to actor pal Tom Arnold when he was recently left stranded in the Middle East ahead of a crucial speech.

Arnold found himself delivering his True Lies co-star's speech to 60,000 members of California's Chamber of Commerce, and he couldn't resist the temptation to preach against the proposed ban on gay marriage in the state.

Thee-times-divorced Arnold explains, "He was stuck in the Middle East. There was a big speech for 60,000 people. He said, 'The speech is already written, you just have to go up there and say the words.' But I wanted to make it a bit more 'me' and I was thinking about gay marriage, which is a hot button subject, as it turns out.

"So I said, "I'll be honest. I'm for it. Even if you don't like gay people. You should vote for this. Marriage isn't that great. If we have to get married - why shouldn't they.'

"And then I moved onto the economy, and I was saying, 'Gay weddings... think of the money. All the flowers. Have you seen their parades? They're the best parades ever.' You could see their eyes light up. They could see the dollar signs. There was a groundswell and I got a standing ovation from republicans and democrats.'

"The only person who's now against gay weddings is my gay brother. He said, 'Great. Now I'm going to be alone and broke like you.'"

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)