Barack Obama addresses divorce rumours as wife Michelle brings him to tears

Speculation about their marriage has been addressed by Barack Obama and Michelle Obama on her podcast. The former President of the US and the former First Lady have faced rumours of issues in their relationship this year.

Michelle, 61, wasn't present for the second inauguration of President Donald Trump in January after having been noticeably absent from the funeral of the late Jimmy Carter days prior. Barack attended the events without his wife and her absences fuelled speculation about their marriage.

The couple, who have been married since 1992, have now addressed the situation. It came whilst Barack was a guest on the latest episode of the IMO podcast, which is hosted by Michelle and her brother Craig Robinson, 63.

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Michelle, Barack and Craig poked fun at the speculation, which had included rumours months ago of the couple potentially heading for divorce, early into the recording. Craig first teased over it as Michelle and Barack hugged.

Following their interaction, which came as Barack joined the podcast hosts in the studio, Craig said: "Wait! You guys like each other?" His sister Michelle replied: 'Oh yeah, really, huh? The rumor mill. It's my husband y'all."

Prompting laugher, Barack teased as she sat down for the podcast appearance: "She took me back!" After laughing, Michelle responded to him: "Now don't start!" Her husband added: "It was touch and go for awhile."

Craig went on to tease: "It's so nice to have you both in the same room together." Referencing speculation about a potential divorce, Michelle replied to her brother: "I know cause when we aren't, folks think we're divorced."

Barack said on the podcast that he isn't always aware of rumours about his relationship with his wife, with whom he shares his two children. He said: "These are the kinds of things that I just miss, right? So I don't even know this stuff's going on. And then somebody'll mention it to me and I'm all like 'what are you talking about?''

Michelle later paid tribute to her husband and said that she hadn't ever considered "quitting" their relationship. She said on the episode, released today: "There hasn't been one moment in our marriage where I thought about quitting my man."

Paying tribute to Barack and their marriage, she added: "And we've had some really hard times. So we had ... had a lot of fun times, a lot of adventures and I have become a better person because of the man I'm married to."

Following her comments, Barack suggested that he felt emotional, with him encouraging his wife not to make him cry. He told her: "Okay, don't make me cry now. Right at the beginning of the show. Don't let me start tearing up now."

It isn't the first time that Michelle has addressed speculation about her marriage this year. Whilst a guest on the Work in Progress podcast, she spoke about her decision not to accompany Barack to events earlier this year. She said: "People were, you know, 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."

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