Michelle Obama has sweetly reflected on when she first felt attracted to her husband, Barack Obama.
The former First Lady, 61, opened up about when she met Barack during Wednesday’s episode of her and her brother Craig Robinson’s podcast, IMO. During the conversation, Robinson asked Michelle what “attracted” her to Barack and if the pair had that “initial spark” when they met.
Michelle explained that during her first year as a law firm associate, she was assigned to be Barack’s mentor while he was a summer intern. She confessed that before they met, she thought he was going to be “kind of weird” and a “nerdy guy.”
However, a phone call changed her entire perspective.
“The first kind of sparky kind of feeling I felt actually was when I talked to him on the phone, and he and he had his Barack Obama voice,” she explained. “Like the voice was sexier than the image that I had about him. So I was sort of like, ‘Oh I didn’t expect this.’”
“And he was older, so he was self-assured,” she added about Barack, 64. “So we had a great conversation, but all I had was a picture and it wasn't a great picture of him.”
Michelle argued that she wasn’t necessarily “feeling anything” for Barack until he showed up for his first day.
“He was much cuter than his picture, right? The picture didn’t do him justice. So I was pleasantly surprised that he was attractive,” she continued. “So he stood up and, you know, he was, he was kind of cool in a way that I didn't expect. He was not unapologetic about being late, but he wasn't flustered by it.”
Later in the day, Michelle took Barack to lunch, which is where they “really hit off” and there was “a hint of a spark.” She acknowledged that while Barack had “flavor” and was “interesting,” dating him wasn’t an option.
“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,” she explained.
Instead, Michelle introduced him to her friends to “fix” him up with them. However, she and Barack became “really good friends” and were “laughing about the same things,” so she began to “really like him.”
Eventually, Barack was the one who asked Michelle out, even though she was hesitant about what the law firm would think. However, Barack wasn’t concerned about that. And over a few weeks, he convinced her to go on a date, which Michelle thought was “sexy.”
“And this is where I had to tell myself, like he's saying, like real grown man stuff. So why am I pushing off from this?” she said. “I could have missed my dream guy, my person. Like right in front of me. And I was convincing myself against even his efforts that we should go out. Long story short, I gave in.”
Michelle and the former U.S. President have been married for 32 years, and they share two daughters: Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24.
The Obamas have battled divorce rumors in recent months after not being seen publicly together, but Michelle has insisted repeatedly that all is well. Speaking on NPR’s Wild Card podcast with Rachel Martin in June, she said: “We are 60. We’re 60, y’all. You just are not gonna know what we’re doing every minute of the day.”
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