MICHELLE Obama has finally broken her silence on rumors of marriage troubles between her and Barack.
The former first lady opened up about her relationship with her husband after months of speculation about the two growing apart.
Rumors about the Obamas potentially getting a divorce began circulating when Michelle, aged 61, was noticeably absent from her husband’s side during the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter in December.
All living former presidents were in attendance at the funeral with their wives – but Michelle was nowhere to be found.
It was later revealed that she had been on vacation in Hawaii during the event.
Michelle raised more eyebrows when she was absent from President Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
On Tuesday, former first lady sat down with actress Sophia Bush for a conversation on Bush’s podcast, Work in Progress.
During the episode, Michelle revealed skipping the high-profile political events was her own decision.
Michelle bashed rumors about her marriage troubles on the new episode and said it’s “what society does to us.”
“That’s the thing that we as women, I think we struggle with disappointing people,” Michelle said.
The speculation reached a point where people were finding it hard to believe that Michelle was simply making personal choices for herself, automatically assuming that a divorce between her and her husband was the reason behind her absence.
She said people questioned if the moves were “a grown woman just making a set of decisions for herself.”
She said since leaving the White House in 2016, she has been making more decision for herself.
In response to these rumors, Michelle shared that she is currently reflecting on her identity and aspirations, stating, “It is time for me to start questioning myself about who I truly want to become every day.” She emphasized that her future looks open-ended and can take any shape she desires.
She said she finds the time to give speeches and advocate for education for girls, which she focused on in her role as first lady. Michelle and Barack have been married since 1992.
Aside from her absences from public appearances, people wondered if the two were having troubles when Barack posted a picture of the two on Michelle’s birthday that social media users thought was questionable.
Plus, Michelle was pictured in serious conversation with her brother, Craig Robinson, in February with Barack nowhere to be found.
Robinson and Michelle launched their own podcast with two episodes on March 12.
In her podcast’s debut, she admitted previous marriage struggles with Barack – and some of her problems stemmed from his lateness.
Michelle joked that Barack was consistently late to plans because he got ready too late.
“He’s improved over 30 years of marriage, but that was a ‘you must adjust,'” she said.
Barack also joked that he was in a “deep deficit” with his wife after eight years of their marriage were overtaken by his two presidencies.
In a conversation with Hamilton College president Steven Tepper on Thursday, the former president said he was writing his book and planning dates with Michelle to make up for lost time.
“Look, I was in a deep deficit with my wife, so I have been trying to dig myself out of that hole by doing occasionally fun things,” Barack said.
Michelle has previously opened up about marital issues during Barack’s time as president and when their two grown daughters, Malia and Sasha, were just children.
“People think I’m being catty by saying this – it’s like, there were 10 years where I couldn’t stand my husband,” Michelle admitted during an interview on Revolt TV.
“And guess when it happened? When those kids were little.”
