Michelle Obama has never accidentally passed gas in front of a Secret Service agent — but she’s still had her share of embarrassing moments with them, thanks to the ever-present nature of their job.
The former first lady, 54, has been making the rounds promoting her new book, Becoming, and on Thursday what may have been the most unconventional stop on her interview tour was released.
Mrs. Obama sat down with comedians Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams for their popular podcast 2 Dope Queens, where the two women didn’t shy away from asking her the tough — and funny — questions.
Fun interview: Michelle Obama was interviewed by Jessica Williams (right) and Phoebe Robinson (left) for their podcast 2 Dope Queens
Mixing it up: The ladies chatted about serious subjects but also discussed fun, light topics
Whoops! She said that one time in Asheville, North Carolina (not pictured), her skirt blew up — and one of her Secret Service agents stepped in to cover her
One of the funniest exchanges on the podcast episode, which debuted Thursday, started when Phoebe, 34, began to talk about some of her own gastrointestinal issues.
‘To open: I am a gassy person. Now stay with me, guys,’ she said. ‘But you spent — your time in the White House, especially — you were surrounded by Secret Service.’
‘Yes, there were times I had gas,’ Michelle admitted.
‘No, I’m just kidding… No, not in eight years. Once I became first lady, gas left me. That’s part of the, that’s one of the benefits — no more gas.’
‘But you were constantly surrounded by people,’ Phoebe went on, ‘so did you ever have, like, any sort of, like, embarrassing sort of thing that happened, and like, the Secret Service was there, and you both sort of, like, clocked it, like, “We’re not gonna talk about it but we both saw this happened”?’
Michelle replied: ‘Oh god, yeah. There’s a ton of stuff… Not necessarily the gassy stuff, but you know, definitely tripping, falling, stumbling.’
The mother-of-two then went on to detail one of her most embarrassing memories from her time as first lady, recalling a moment when she accidentally flashed one of her Secret Service agents during a rally in North Carolina.
Awkward! The former first lady said she hasn’t necessarily passed gas in front of the Secret Service but other embarrassing stuff has happened
New plan: After the skirt incident, her team started planning outfits better based on the wind and weather
‘You know one time I was doing a big rally in, um, I think it was Asheville, college campus. And my lead agent was behind me, ‘cause he’s always behind me…
‘And my skirt blew up. The wind just blew it up and luckily there wasn’t, like, a backstand. But he was there and he stepped right over, and I was like, thanks!
Sense of style: In a quick Q&A she said she prefers her husband’s pronunciation of ‘karaoke’ over his dad jeans
‘I was like woo! It’s one of those flouncy little cute skirts, and then we had to rethink that,’ she added.
‘That was another outfit learning moment! If it’s windy, don’t wear flouncy things. Wear a pencil skirt, or wear some pants.’
‘So we started checking weather, and wind,’ she went on.
‘But I think I spent eight years going, you know, if you see me giving a speech at a big thing, at a convention, what I’m thinking about as I’m walking to the podium is, “Don’t fall, don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t fall.’
During the interview, Mrs. Obama also talked about more serious issues, like her work with educating girls, the different challenges that women in the public eye face, her experience with miscarriage and IVF, and ‘going high’ when others go low.
But the light bits made the Q&A especially unique, and the comedians finished off by quizzing her with some either/or questions.
When asked if she would rather go to a Beyonce concert or have lunch with Oprah, she chose the latter — but not because she doesn’t love seeing Queen Bey perform.
Chat time: She also said she’d prefer a meal with Oprah over a Beyonce concert because ‘I choose a conversation’
‘Not because I don’t love Beyonce concerts, as you know, I go to all of them, and I love watching my girl perform, but I choose a conversation,’ she said (pictured at Beyonce concert)
‘I’d pick the brunch, not because I don’t love Beyonce concerts, as you know, I go to all of them, and I love watching my girl perform, but I choose a conversation,’ she said.
End of an era: This was the last episode of the pair’s popular podcast, though they still have upcoming HBO specials
‘A concert is cool and you’re feeling the vibe, but I want to be like, “So, Oprah, girl, what’s going on? What’s really happening?” And you can’t do that at a concert.’
She also picked U2 over Billy Joel, and ‘neither’ when asked to choose between Harry Potter and Bilbo Baggins — because Harry Potter belongs to Barack and Malia in her family.
Finally, Phoebe and Jessica asked her if she prefers her husband’s dad jeans or the way he pronounces karaoke.
‘I pick his pronunciation because it was ethnically correct, which probably tripped people out,’ she said.
The interview with Mrs. Obama was not only a major episode for 2 Dope Queens — it was their last episode after four years recording and doing an HBO special.
GOther guests to have appeared on the podcast include Jon Stewart, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Connie Britton, Kevin Bacon, Fred Armisen, Illana Glazer, Tig Notaro, and Gabrielle Union.