Michelle Obama admitted she had reservations when she first met husband Barack and expected him to be ‘weird’, admitting she was worried their budding love affair would ruin her career.
The former first lady, 61, delved into the origins of relationship with the former President, reminiscing on the summer they met at same law firm when she was his advisor.
‘So I knew of him, this Barack Obama, and everyone was abuzz about him,’ she told her brother Craig Robinson, whom she co-hosts their IMO podcast with. ‘[Everyone] were talking about this hotshot first year Harvard Law student who was brilliant, and his name was Barack Obama.’
‘I got his profile [at the law firm] and I thought, what kind of a name is Barack Obama?’ she said.
She continued: ‘And he’s Black, and everyone at the law firm was excited that he was Black, and I was like, “he’s probably weird, because he’s a nerd if a lot of white people are all infatuated with him.”‘
The pair ended up spending a lot of time together over the summer working together, with Michelle admitting there was an attraction that she tried to ignore – particularly due to their work situation.
‘We were becoming “friends friends” – really good friends,’ she told Craig. ‘Barack was like my buddy. We were going everywhere together, and we were going to lunch and laughing about the same things and making jokes.’
There was one pivotal moment that changed the course of their relationship, when they went out for a summer associate outing with the firm.
Michelle, 61, delved into the origins of relationship with the former President, reminiscing on the summer they met him the law firm they both worked at when she was his advisor. Pictured on their wedding day in 1992
‘We had to go see Les Misérables, and I remember I really liked him because we went to Les Mis as a summer associate outing, and we both looked at each other and was like, “this sucks.”‘
‘He looked at me at intermission and was like “let’s go”,’ Michelle recalled, admitting she was somewhat scandalized by the thought.
‘I was like, “we can’t go, we’re here with the firm,” and he was like “we don’t have to stay through this, let’s just go.’
Michelle said she found his attitude somewhat alluring.
‘I was like, “oh, he’s radical, he’s like a rule breaker” and we left at intermission, we left two seats open in the box at the firm,’ she said, although her actions weren’t without hesitation.
‘I was like “I’m ruining my career,” but we went out for drinks and I really liked him.’
Michelle’s detailed tale of how she met her husband comes as the two continue to refute rumors they are heading for a divorce.
Speculation about the Obamas’ relationship has picked up over the past year, fueled in part by Michelle’s decision to skip several high-profile events, including Jimmy Carter’s funeral.
Michelle often speaks about raising her two daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 24, with her husband, former President Barack Obama (family pictured in 2004)
Michelle Obama may look like she has all parts of life under control but the former first lady has had her fair share of doubts – particularly when it comes to parenting
The Obamas met in 1988 when the future president took a job at a law firm in Chicago for the summer where Michelle was already working
Michelle (pictured with Barack in a photo he shared in February) dismissed speculation about her marriage and addressed the rumors head on during a podcast episode of her IMO podcast
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While the couple have now been married for 33 years and share two daughters, Malia, 26, and Sasha, 24, Michelle wasn’t immediately impressed with the man who was to become her future husband.
She admitted she already had an idea of what he would be like.
‘Then I read his bio and saw he grew up in Hawaii, and I thought how many black people grow up in Hawaii? So I already had this image, but he was assigned to be my advisee, so I had to call him on the phone,’ she recalled.
‘I had this image of a nerdy guy, and then the first sparky feeling I had, I felt actually, was when I talked to him on the phone and he had his Barack Obama voice. He’s like, “hello”, the voice was sexier than the image I had, so I sort of didn’t expect this,’ the former First Lady said.
‘He was older, so he was self assured. We had a great conversation, but all I had was a picture and it wasn’t a great picture of him so I wasn’t feeling anything,’ she laughed.
‘Then it was his first day on the job, he shows up late right, so I’m like “OK, he’s a trifling nerd with a good voice, that’s what I thought,”‘ she mused.
When she met Barack, the then-lawyer was taken aback, saying he was ‘much cuter’ than his picture.
‘The picture didn’t do him justice, so I was pleasantly surprised that he was attractive,’ she admitted.
‘So he stood up and you know, he was kind of cool in a way that I didn’t expect. He wasn’t not unapologetic about being late, but he wasn’t flustered by it – he handled it in a cool way
‘So I got him started on his first day and then I had to take him out for lunch and we really hit it off at lunch. We had a long lunch, a great conversation and just kind of vibed right at that lunch,’ she said, adding: ‘he was interesting and he was just very self-assured.’
However, Michelle had ruled him out as a potential suiter because of their positions at work.
‘I told myself it would be completely inappropriate for me to date this dude that I’m advising. It would be tacky, and it would be expected, so I kind of talked myself out of it,’ she said.
Michelle added she even entertained the idea of setting him up with her friends.
‘So I started taking him to happy hours and things like that, so he was starting to meet all my friends. So my mindset was, “I’m going to fix you up.”
However, the two started dating and eventually married in 1992.
The duo got candid about the widespread speculation of their apparent separation on a recent episode of IMO.
When Craig teased the couple by asking, ‘What, you guys like each other?’ Michelle responded with a smirk: ‘Oh yeah, the rumor mill.’
Barack jumped in saying, ‘She took me back! It was touch and go for a while.’
Despite the jokes, Michelle made it clear she has never considered walking away from the marriage.
‘There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man,’ she said on the podcast. ‘And we’ve had some really hard times.’