Michelle Obama has reflected on her life in the White House, and the former first lady admitted that it could be lonely at times.

The mom-of-two, 61, spoke with Saturday Night Live star Kenan Thompson on her IMO podcast on Wednesday, during which they discussed fame, parenting, and what motivates him.

Michelle also spoke to the actor and comedian about how being recognized in public affects their day-to-day lives and the people around them, as well how she navigates embracing her black culture – particularly in the White House.

‘I live in a bubble,’ the author and advocate declared. ‘Me and my husband, that’s not how we were raised (and) it’s a lot.’

Michelle recounted what it was like to move around as her husband, Barack Obamawas campaigning.

‘Every time we moved up somewhere, we bought our community with us, a lot of it selfishly, because it’s no fun being in the White House with no friends or to be there with people you don’t really know,’ the podcaster admitted.

‘They didn’t come there with you, they didn’t help you get there,’ she continued.

‘(Being recognized publicly) changes the way you live, whether you like it or not,’ she added.

Michelle often reflects on her family’s time living in the White Houseonce recalling she’d ‘hide out’ in sweatpants while watching bad TV, and how her daughters preferred decor from Crate & Barrel over fancy, historic furnishings.

When they moved into the White House, the Obama‘s hired interior designer Michael S. Smith to lead the renovations of the residence, hoping to achieve a warm and comforting interior for her family’s eight years in the country’s most famous house.

In Smith’s book, Designing History: The Extraordinary Art & Style of the Obama White House, Michelle wrote that she did her best to recreate he feeling for her children, Malia and Sasha, from the house they lived in, in Chicago.

‘In addition to its vital role in our democracy, I also needed the space to play a very practical purpose – a place where our girls could sprawl out on the floor with their Polly Pockets and stuffed animals, where they could invite friends over for popcorn and a movie, where they could play ball in the halls and go outside to play in the snow,’ she wrote in the forward for the book.

The mother-of-two has also previously said on her podcast that it was her goal was to ‘normalize’ the White House experience for daughters Malia, now 27, and Sasha, now 24, which meant spending time in the community.

She admitted it was her first instinct was to not make new friends while living in the famous house – in case they weren’t trustworthy, gossiped about them, or sold stories to the media.

However, she knew the couple had to unite as parents and make life as ‘normal’ as possible for their family.

‘I still had little kids. My girls were 10 and seven, moving into a new neighborhood, a new community,’ Michelle explained.

‘(I did) not make them feel like these odd little kids with Secret Service that were outsiders, which meant that I couldn’t – I didn’t – have the luxury of saying no new friends, right?’ she reflected.

The former first lady has also been open about the stern parenting conversations she had with Barack when he was first elected President of the United States in 2009.

She explained that she told her husband he had to get their daughters’ school used to the President of the United States being at events – and that she wanted him to still be as engaged with this daughters’ lives as he was before he took office.

‘It was like, “No, you got to go to parent-teacher conference” – and he wanted to go,’ Michelle said.

She stated that even if he was not necessarily required to go, she still expected him there.

‘You have to get the school normalized to you being the type of engaged parent that you were before election night,’ she recalled telling Barack.

The podcast host, whose marriage has been plagued with divorce rumors recently, lifted the lid on her date nights with her Barack earlier this week, revealing that they avoid talking to each other for the day so that they have things to chat about later that evening.

The podcaster recently celebrated her 33rd wedding anniversary with the former president.

Following the milestone, she opened up about how they spend quality time together during a recent chat with People, revealing they often opt for a low-effort dinners at home.

The former first lady revealed that she and her husband purposely avoid talking to each other in a strange bid to keep their date nights interesting.

‘We’ve been married 32, 33 (years)… I always forget. Sorry, honey,’ she began.

Shedding light on how they keep their romance alive, Michelle said that they prefer to keep things low-key and casual – and bookmark conversations to have later.

‘When we’re both happy about date night, we’re at home. We are not getting dressed. We just have a nice dinner, candles lit, music, we talk,’ Michelle continued.

‘We don’t talk for the whole day, because we’re in the house together all day, right? We work from home.

‘So, when we are going to have a really special night, it’s like, “Don’t talk to me. Save it for dinner.”

‘He’ll be like, “Did you talk to the girls?” “I did, but we’re not going to talk about it until date night.”‘