Michelle Obama has opened up about her marriage to former President Barack Obama being difficult.
The former first lady, 61, gave a warning to people “who want a marriage” like hers in a Wednesday episode of her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson, when she and her brother were joined by couples therapist Orna Guralnik.
“In Instagram world, you see two loving people doing a hard thing in the world, always on stage, giving each other a hug after a big speech and making it look easy,” Obama said. “A lot of young people could look at that and go, ‘I want a marriage like Michelle and Barack.’”
She suggested that the public’s perception of her “ideal” marriage to the former president, 64, whom she shares daughters Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, is inaccurate.
“I try to be honest with the world, with the people who follow me and Barack, to our girls, because, you know, people look at our marriage as the ideal,” she said.
The New York Times best-selling author said that even when a relationship is “great,” it’s still “hard,” especially due to the famous couple’s challenges with being “in the world unobserved.”
The Obamas have faced divorce rumors after Michelle didn’t make an appearance with Obama at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral and announced she wouldn’t be joining him for President Donald Trump’s second inauguration.
Even though Michelle denied the gossip, Obama said in a July episode of the podcast that their relationship “was touch and go for a while.”
On Sept. 17, he delved further into their relationship troubles, saying he’s “spent over eight years now trying to dig [himself] out of a hole with Michelle.”
“And that’s been challenging, but I feel like I’m making progress. I’m almost breaking even at the moment,” he said while speaking at a Jefferson Educational Society event in Erie, Pennsylvania.
The couple’s 33rd wedding anniversary is on Friday, Oct. 3.
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