The couple addressed split rumours in a joint interview, emphasising their strong relationship and shared adventures. Photo / Getty Images
The couple addressed split rumours in a joint interview, emphasising their strong relationship and shared adventures. Photo / Getty Images
Michelle Obama has admitted she endured “really hard times” in her marriage but never thought of leaving former US President Barack Obama.
Speculation has swirled for months about a split between Michelle Obama and her husband, after she did not join him to attend several public events.
The former FirstLady and the former President put rumours to bed in a joint interview on Wednesday, with Michelle Obama saying: “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man.”
Barack Obama, 63, was a guest on his wife’s IMO Podcast, which she hosts with her brother, Craig Robinson.
Since launching her podcast, Michelle Obama has begun to speak candidly about the challenges of raising a family in the White House.
“We’ve had some really hard times. So we had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures, and I have become a better person because of the man I’m married to,” she said to her brother.
Robinson addressed rumours head-on, asking: “What, you guys like each other?” to which his sister replied: “Oh yeah, the rumour mill.”
Barack Obama then quipped: “She took me back!” joking that their relationship had been “touch and go for a while”.
The former First Lady responded that it was nice to be in the same room as her husband, pointing out that “when we aren’t, folks think we’re divorced”.
Barack Obama (left) speaks on his wife Michelle Obama’s (right) IMO podcast with her brother Craig Robinson (centre) Photo / Michelle Obama
The couple have rarely been seen together publicly since they gave speeches at the Democratic Convention last August.
Michelle Obama then skipped the state funeral of Jimmy Carter in January, citing a scheduling conflict. It later emerged that she was on holiday in Hawaii without her husband.
Barack oblivious to rumours
After Robinson admitted he has been quizzed by members of the public about the state of the Obamas’ marriage, the former President said he was oblivious to many of the rumours.
“These are the kinds of things that I just miss, right?” he said. “So I don’t even know this stuff’s going on. And then somebody will mention it to me and I’m all like, ‘what are you talking about?’”
Michelle Obama previously addressed rumours of strains on her marriage in May, telling reporters: “If I were having problems with my husband, everybody would know about it.”
She has also suggested that speculation about the state of her and her husband’s relationship is rooted in sexism.
“We as women, I think we struggle with, like, disappointing people,” she recently told podcast host Sophia Bush.
“So much so that this year people were, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing ... that’s what society does to us.”
