Michelle Obama has finally broken her silence after rumors that she and Barack are headed for divorce.

The former president previously spoke to Hamilton College on April 3 and admitted he was working to fix his relationship with Michelle after being “in a deep deficit”.

While speaking to the College president Steven Tepper, he shared: “Beyond that, 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.”

He acknowledged the toll being president between 2009-2017 had taken on his 33-year long marriage.

He added that he hadn’t fully understood the impact his career would take on his wife and their relationship with their children.

Now, Michelle has finally shared her piece on the speculation. Speaking on 9 April on Sophia Bush’s “Work in Progress” podcast, the 61-year-old shared: “The interesting thing is that, when I say ‘no,’ for the most part people are like, ‘I get it, and I’m OK,’” the mom explained about her decision to turn down attending big events with her husband.

“And that’s the thing that we as women struggle with — disappointing people,” she added.

“So much so that people, they couldn’t even fathom that I was making a choice for myself, that they had to assume that my husband and I are divorcing.”

She commented that people had speculated the end of her 33-year marriage after she decided to not attend some recent events, such as Donald Trump’s inauguration and President Jimmy Carter’s funeral.

“But that’s what society does to us,” she said. “We actually finally start going, ‘What am I doing? Who am I doing this for?’ And if it doesn’t fit into the sort of stereotype of what people think we should do, then it gets labeled as something negative and horrible.”

“I get to look at my calendar, which I did this year. It was a real big example of me, myself, looking at something that I was supposed to do, you know, without naming names, and I chose to do what was best for me,” she said.

“Not what I had to do, not what other people wanted me to do, and between you and me, that was an important test for me just as a woman, as an independent person. Because, like all women, I operate from guilt.”

She added that it was “time to make some big girl decisions” in her life — and “own it fully.”

“Now is the time for me to start asking myself these hard questions of, ‘Who do I truly want to be every day?’ And that changes,” Michelle said.

“So, who do I want to have a lunch with? How long do I want to stay in a place? Do I want to travel? If a girlfriend calls and says, ‘Let’s go here,’ I can say ‘Yes!’ I can. And I’m trying to do that more and more.”

“So what does it look like? It looks like whatever I want it to look like. And I still find time to give speeches, to be out there in the world, to work on projects. I still care about girls’ education,” she added.

The former president previously spoke out about his personal life back in 2023. During an interview with CBS Mornings, he admitted: “Let me just say this: It sure helps to be out of the White House and to have a little more time with her,”.

In 2022, Michelle admitted that there was a period of “10 years” where she “couldn’t stand” her husband; “And for 10 years, while we’re trying to build our careers and, you know, worrying about school and who’s doing what, I was like, ‘Ugh, this isn’t even,’” she said. “And guess what? Marriage isn’t 50/50 — ever. There’s sometimes I’m 70, he’s 30, but guess what? We’ve been married 30. I would take 10 bad years over 30.”

She had encouraged people to be realistic when it comes to the commitment of marriage: “Marriage is hard, and a lot of young people quit on marriage over things that are just a part of the commitment,”,  “I mean, you could be mad at him, but do you still look at him and go: ‘I’m not happy with you, but I respect you. I don’t agree with you, but you’re still a kind, smart person.’”

https://x.com/BarackObama/status/1890404640161775623

Despite all this, they appear to be stronger than ever. This Valentine’s Day, Barack shared a photo of Michelle to social media and wrote: “Thirty-two years together and you still take my breath away.”