Former first lady Michelle Obama on Thursday urged young couples to be mindful of the long haul of marriage instead of obsessing over the wedding.
CBS’s Gayle King reminded Obama that she’s admitted there have been long stretches of time when she didn’t particularly like her husband, former President Barack Obama.
“Yeah, so what’s the controversy?” the former first lady said.
“You said it out loud,” King replied.
Obama said she was merely keeping it real. “Marriage is hard, and a lot of young people quit on marriage over things that are just a part of the commitment.”
“We glamorise marriage,” she continued. “In this day and age, marriage is more about the dress, and the dresses, and the proposal, and the honeymoon and all the stuff around it. And young people aren’t ready for the real of marriage.”
“It’s incumbent upon us, people who have had successful marriages, to be really honest about the fact that making a commitment to be with someone means you compromise ― and compromise ain’t always fun,” she concluded.
She then joked: “And don’t add kids into the mix, because they really mess up your life.”
The Obamas celebrated their 30th anniversary this past October.
The former first lady, who’s making the media rounds in advance of “The Light We Carry” ― a Netflix special with Oprah Winfrey streaming next week, named after Obama’s recent book ― dispensed similar advice in a 2020 interview with Conan O’Brien.
“You’ve got to know that there are going to be times ― long periods of time ― when you can’t stand each other,” she said.
“There were times that I wanted to push Barack out of the window,” she joked. “And I say that, because it’s like, you’ve got to know the feelings will be intense. But that doesn’t mean you quit.”