Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that he will not return to his latest gig but he did come back to where it all began.

The Austrian bodybuilding icon-turned-A-lister, 69, was seen at the famed Columbus, Ohio bodybuilding and fitness extravaganza named in his honor - The Arnold Sports Festival - hours after bowing out of The New Celebrity Apprentice.

The ex-California governor on Friday threw in the towel on the hosting gig, as he told Empire that President Donald Trump's longtime ties to the program - and ongoing involvement as executive producer - made it impossible to do business as usual.

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Back in his element: Arnold Schwarzenegger, hours after quitting The Celebrity Apprentice Friday, was front-and-center during a competition at The Arnold Sports Festival in Ohio, an annual tradition since 1989

Schwarzenegger said that 'with Trump being involved in the show, people have a bad taste and don't want to participate as a spectator or as a sponsor or in any other way support the show.'

The True Lies star said that 'when people found out that Trump was still involved as executive producer and was still receiving money from the show, then half the people [began] boycotting it.'

The Commando star said that the show was a casualty of the 'very divisive period' politically in the United States.

He did start the fire! Arnold's influence on bodybuilding is unrivaled, as he established himself as the genre's most famed competitor before moving onto show business and later politics

Iconic: Arnold's fingerprint on the bodybuilding world was well-chronicled in the famed 1977 documentary Pumping Iron

Man of the people: Arnold, clad in a camouflage jacket, was mobbed as fans approached him for pictures and autographs

'I think this show got caught up in all that division,' said Schwarzenegger, who added he'd be happy to resume doing business with the Peacock Network and the show's executive producer, Mark Burnett, 'on a show that doesn't have this baggage.'

The Trump-branded TV franchise starring Schwarzenegger suffered its second-worst rated season in history, Nielsen officials told the AP.

Even with his continued investment, Trump trashed his own franchise in January to point out how he was a bigger TV draw than Schwarzenegger.

'Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got "swamped" (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT,' he tweeted in January.

Blowback: Schwarzenegger said 'people have a bad taste' of The Celebrity Apprentice due to President Trump's involvement as longtime host and current executive producer

High hopes: After inking a deal to step in for Trump in September of 2015, Schwarzenegger called himself 'a huge fan' of the NBC show, in particular 'the way it showcases the challenges and triumphs of business and teamwork.'

After the season wrapped up last month, the president tweeted that Schwarzenegger 'did a really bad job as governor of California and even worse on The Apprentice, but at least he tried hard.'

On Friday, Arnold was back in his element, surrounded by professionals in the bodybuilding and fitness industry that he had a huge part of in putting on the map.

He posed for pictures with fans, and kept a Snapchat log of his experience at the massive event, which organizers predicted would draw about 185,000 people to Columbus.

Strong is sexy: Lauren Findley, Stephanie Rowe and Lena Paternoster were among the sirens in spandex populating the floor of the well-attended convention