Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, are two of America’s most celebrated couples. However, the tabloids have constantly scrutinized their personal lives.
While it’s just a downside of fame, in recent times, the duo has faced numerous rumors of a rift and divorce, which ignited after Michelle Obama was absent from President Donald Trump’s inaugural ceremony in January 2025 and former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
Michelle and Barack Obama first met in 1989, and after being together for a few years, they married in 1992. At that time, Barack was just an intern, and Michelle Obama was preparing to become a corporate lawyer in Chicago. Their love story is one straight out of storybooks that definitely inspires young couples in love.
Michelle has been quite open about the challenges they have faced together as a couple in the public eye. In his 2020 memoir A Promised Land, Barack candidly acknowledged the strains his political career placed on their relationship. He said that his relationship with his wife had faced pressure from the media during his tenure in the White House.
Yet, the former president has always praised Michelle as the anchor of the family.
According to Radar Online, in 2010, Barack Obama mentioned Michelle in his State of the Union address while speaking about his work as the country’s president. “If you were going to list the 100 most popular things that I have done as president, being married to Michelle Obama is number one,” said Barack Obama.
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Similarly, the former first lady has also been honest about other dynamics with Barack over the years. Speaking to Oprah Winfrey in 2011, she stressed that marriage must be a true teamwork built on respect, honesty, and resilience through life’s ups and downs.
She noted that her advice to young couples would be that trying to combine two different people and live their lives together, that too forever, would be a recipe for disaster; that’s why she quoted, “… But if in the end, you can look him in the eye and say, ‘I like you,’ that’s love.
Consequently, Michelle Obama has also been open about how she struggled with parenting in her marriage in the initial years and stressed that endurance, not perfection, is key. She further highlighted that she would happily choose ten bad years over thirty if that meant a lasting love that blooms into something worthwhile.
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Furthermore, in a conversation with Jay Shetty on his podcast ‘On Purpose,’ Michelle Obama talked about how she and her husband handle disagreements. She explained that while hurt feelings once took days to heal, now they address issues with humor and understanding, thanks to years of practice.
Meanwhile, Michelle Obama has shut down all the separation speculation in a candid conversation on Sophia Bush’s podcast ‘Work in Progress.’ She further opened up for the first time about choosing not to attend certain high-profile events. “The idea that I could simply be making decisions for myself, without it signaling trouble in my marriage, was hard for some people to grasp,” she said.
On the work front, Michelle Obama has begun a new podcast called IMO with her brother, Craig Robinson, a basketball coach. The podcast’s primary goal is to “have thoughtful conversations about life,” as Michelle revealed.
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In one of their joint episodes, the basketball coach revealed that he didn’t think the romance would last. He expressed that when he heard that the former first lady was dating a guy named Barack, he laughed it off and thought it would be merely another short-term relationship of hers.
However, his opinion changed when both gentlemen played a rigorous basketball game, and Barack Obama impressed the Princeton graduate with his skills.
