Michelle Obama took “IMO” listeners down memory lane on Wednesday.
The former first lady kicked off the podcast episode by breaking down how she fell in love with her husband of 32 years, Barack Obama.
The pair’s love story came up when brother Craig Robinson asked “what first attracted” Michelle, 61, to her partner.
The former lawyer explained that she was Barack’s mentor at a law firm when she met the “hot shot” everyone was “abuzz” about.
While Michelle assumed he was “probably a little weird” and “nerdy,” she felt the “first sparky feeling” when they spoke on the phone prior to meeting in person.
“He had his Barack Obama voice,” she noted. “The voice was sexier than the image I had. I was like, ‘Ooh, I didn’t expect this.’ And he was older and self-assured.”
However, the single picture Michelle had of Barack, now 64, “wasn’t a great one,” so she ultimately “wasn’t feeling anything” — until his “first day on the job.”
Michelle recalled, “He stands up. He’s tall. And he’s much cuter than his picture. So I was pleasantly surprised that he was attractive. He was kind of cool in a way I didn’t expect.”
The duo “really hit it off” during a long lunch together and felt “a hint of a spark” — but Michelle had “ruled out … this dude” since she was his advisor and didn’t want to be “tacky” and “inappropriate.”
Despite her attempt to set Barack up with her pals, the duo became “really good friends” and, over the course of a “slow burn” summer, she began to “really like him.”
Barack was the one to ask Michelle out, quipping, “You’re cute, you’re cool. Why not? Who cares what the firm thinks? It’s just a firm. And this is our business.”
It took “a couple of weeks” for him to “convince” his now-wife to “go on a proper date,” and she called his directness “kind of sexy.”
Michelle expressed relief that she didn’t “throw the baby out with the bath” over her “crazy principles” and “rule-follow[ing]” personality.
She noted, “I could have missed my dream guy. He was right in front of me and I was convincing myself, even against his efforts, that we shouldn’t go out. Long story short, I gave in.”
The couple tied the knot in October 1992, going on to welcome daughters Malia, now 27, and Sasha, now 24, in 1998 and 2001, respectively.
Although Michelle and Barack have faced ongoing divorce speculation in recent months, they have continued to clap back at rumors.
Most recently, they playfully addressed the chatter on “IMO,” with Barack joking their relationship had been “touch and go for a while.”
Michelle corrected him, saying, “There hasn’t been one moment in our marriage where I have thought about quitting my man. We’ve had some really hard times and we’ve had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures and I’ve become a better person because of the man I’m married to.”
On Wednesday, she reminded listeners that all couples have to do “difficult” work together, from “learn[ing] how to argue” to sometimes “not lik[ing] the person you live with.”
Michelle, who believes she and Barack “will be married forever,” added, “Marriage is hard in the best marriages, and I am lucky enough to be in one. I don’t want people to look at my relationship and think it’s all glamour and glory.”
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