Michelle Obama left Henry Winkler stunned after she confessed that she found his The Fonz character ‘sexy.’
The former First Lady, 61, made the candid admission during the latest episode of her podcast, IMO with Michelle Obama & Craig Robinson, during which the 80-year-old actor appeared as a guest.
At the top of their conversation, Michelle declared that one of her earliest crushes was his character in the hit sitcom Happy Days, in which he played Arthur ‘The Fonz’ Fonzarelli.
‘Let me tell you who The Fonz was, at least to me,’ she said. ‘First of all sexy.’
Taken aback by her confession, a clearly embarrassed Winkler blushed and responded: ‘I’m sitting differently in my chair right now.’
‘Now what did I know about sexy at… I can’t do the math, but I was young… preteen,’ she continued. ‘I saw on the screen the coolest … you read tall!’
Agreeing with her remark, Winkler replied: ‘I did! People would say, “Oh my God, I thought you were taller.”
Michelle went on to say that Winkler’s character seemed 6ft 3in and she described him as an ‘even cooler version of John Travolota, before John Travolta.’
Michelle Obama told Henry Winkler that she found his Happy Days character ‘sexy’ on her podcast this week
Winkler played Arthur ‘The Fonz’ Fonzarelli in the hit television show Happy Days
Happy Days ran from 1974 until 1984 and was a massive prime-time hit with Ron Howard, Marion Ross and Tom Bosley in lead roles.
One of the main characters was The Fonz, who was a streetwise lady killer known for his black leather motorcycle jacket and slicked-back hair.
Played by Winkler, the character brought a dash of bad boy to the series about an all-American family in the 1950s.
Elsewhere during the episode, Michelle gave some insight into what it was like raising her daughters, Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24, admitting it was particularly difficult when her husband Barack Obama was away.
‘I tell this story all the time about Malia and Sasha when they were probably seven and three,’ she said.
‘Barack was traveling, so I was at home trying to get the girls to bed.’
Michelle explained that although they were ‘great kids,’ there was one night when they were being ‘rambunctious.’
‘I was like, “Get ready, it’s time to take your baths,” and no one was listening,’ she complained.
‘I’m sitting differently in my chair right now,’ Winkler said in response to her admission
Happy Days ran from 1974 to 1984 and also starred Tom Bosley, Anson Williams, Marion Ross, Donny Most, Erin Moran and Ron Howard
Admitting she was in her ‘frustrated mommy time,’ she recalled declaring, ‘Well, that’s it. You know, no one listens to me. I’m done parenting.’
‘[I said], “You guys have this all figured out and you can do this on your own, so have at it.”‘
The former First Lady said it gave her some interesting insight into how different her daughters are.
Michelle shared: ‘My oldest daughter, Malia said, “Oh no, mommy, you know, I can’t do it without you,” and I’m thinking, “Yeah, this is what I wanted. I wanted her to realize that she needed me.”‘
‘Sasha, my three-year-old, was sitting on the stairs watching all this,’ she continued. ‘She took her blankie, and she turned around and went back upstairs to watch TV, as if to say, like, “Thank God.”‘
Michelle added that to this day, her daughters have similar characteristics.
‘My younger daughter, she wants to learn her way. We tell her, but she’s gotta learn on her own,’ she acknowledged.
Michelle has often shared insight into parenting her girls, particularly in the White House after Barack, 64, was elected president.
Earlier in the year, the podcast host hinted that she struggled parenting with her husband while he was President, insinuating his commitment to politics impacted his role as a father.
