Michelle Obama has revealed she is a ‘box checking’ person and has opened up about fertility struggles and the unexpected challenges of living in the White House.
The former first lady, 61, spoke has also spoke candidly about her decision behind not attending Trump’s Inauguration in January.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, she said: ‘Imagine your life as you’re checking boxes: I’m waiting, I delayed having kids, I’ve found the love of my life, and now I’m going to get pregnant.
So you think it’s going to be like a box, it’s going to happen like that, and no one tells you that there really is a biological clock, that’s not false.
‘So by the time we started really trying, which worked perfectly for our careers and maturing and having everything set, while we’re waiting for our lives to be perfect, that biological clock is ticking.
‘So when it happens to you, a box checker, somebody that thought life was going to be so and so and you did all the right things to have things not work out, and to know that it was going to be that way and nobody told you so that you be prepared for it, it just, it was a blow.
Michelle Obama has revealed she is a ‘box checking’ person and has opened up about fertility struggles and the unexpected challenges of living in the White House
Speaking on the latest episode of The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett, the former first lady, 61, spoke has also spoke candidly about her decision behind not attending Trump’s Inauguration in January
Her decision not to attend Trump’s inauguration historically would have been seen as a monumental snub given all former presidents and first ladies have attended inauguration – even for the president of the opposite party – unless they were suffering from health issues. But Trump himself blew up that modern precedent four years ago when he refused to attend the swearing-in ceremony of his successor, President Joe Biden
The couple – who met as young lawyers working for the same Chicago firm in 1989 – celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary in October and shared a photo of them hugging each other at a museum in New York
‘And then as a woman, you’re walking around owning the blow as if it’s your fault.’
Michelle and Barack Obama, 63, met at the law firm where they were both working as associates in the summer of 1989. Michelle had been asked to be Barack’s mentor.
The couple married in 1992 and Barack was elected as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017.
The couple have daughters Malia Ann, 26, and Natasha Marian, 23.
Michelle said moving into the White House as a young family brought its challenges at the time.
‘I was a very different First Lady, not terribly different from Hillary Clinton, but it was a different time,’ she told Steven Bartlett.
‘We had small kids in the White House, and that didn’t happen often. There were just accommodations and ways that the West Wing didn’t think about or work to fully protect all of us in the process as a unit.’
Michelle and Barack Obama have been battling rampant rumors they’re headed for divorce after Michelle’s failure to appear at several high-profile political events in January as she seeks to ‘put herself first.’
‘I was a very different First Lady, not terribly different from Hillary Clinton, but it was a different time,’ she told Steven Bartlett. ‘We had small kids in the White House, and that didn’t happen often. There were just accommodations and ways that the West Wing didn’t think about or work to fully protect all of us in the process as a unit.’
Michelle and Barack Obama have been battling rampant rumors they’re headed for divorce after Michelle’s failure to appear at several high-profile political events in January as she seeks to ‘put herself first.’
![The former first lady said it was a choice she made 'for herself' and recently revealed she was shocked it sparked such intense speculation about her marriage. She told Steven Bartlett: ¿You know, as a box-checking person who has been checking her whole life, doing the right thing, trying to always be an example, always going high [...] I think I just told myself, ¿I think I¿ve done enough of that¿, and if I haven¿t, then I never will. It¿ll never be enough. So let me start now.¿](https://i0.wp.com/i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/04/30/21/97536077-14664533-The_former_first_lady_said_it_was_a_choice_she_made_for_herself_-a-1_1746044769764.jpg?resize=634%2C811&ssl=1)
The former first lady said it was a choice she made ‘for herself’ and recently revealed she was shocked it sparked such intense speculation about her marriage. She told Steven Bartlett: ‘You know, as a box-checking person who has been checking her whole life, doing the right thing, trying to always be an example, always going high […] I think I just told myself, “I think I’ve done enough of that”, and if I haven’t, then I never will. It’ll never be enough. So let me start now.’
Rumors sparked when Barack attended both Jimmy Carter’s funeral and Trump’s inauguration solo.
The former first lady said it was a choice she made ‘for herself’ and recently revealed she was shocked it sparked such intense speculation about her marriage.
She told Steven Bartlett: ‘You know, as a box-checking person who has been checking her whole life, doing the right thing, trying to always be an example, always going high […] I think I just told myself, “I think I’ve done enough of that”, and if I haven’t, then I never will. It’ll never be enough. So let me start now.’
The couple made a show of unity last weekend when they were spotted on a romantic date night at one of their favorite Italian restaurants in Washington DC.
Speaking on The Diary of a CEO, she also gave an insight into the early days of her relationship with Barack.
‘At the same time, I met Barack Obama, he showed up in my life as the opposite of a box checker, but somebody that I describe in my book as the ultimate swerve, he did nothing by the book,’ she said.
‘He was brilliant and interesting.’
‘He was really trying to unpack life in a way that people in my generation weren’t trying to do…and I thought, I have to do something more before I settle on this [career], and I think Barack helped give me the courage.’
Steven Bartlett said: ‘Sitting down to chat with Michelle Obama was one of the most significant moments of my career to date.
‘It was also illuminating. What began as a conversation about leadership became something deeper — an honest and intimate exploration of Michelle’s fears, her marriage, and her journey to becoming who she is today. I, for one, have never heard her share her story like this before.
‘It is certainly one of the most powerful episodes of DOAC and, as importantly, a real moment for all of us who work on the show.’
