The president tucks me in at bedtime, reveals Mrs Obama

First Lady Michelle Obama.

There's not a lot of time to catch up on the day's events when your husband is busy running the world's top superpower.

But Michelle Obama can always count on chatting with husband Barack at least once a day - when he tucks her into bed.

'We have a ritual where he tucks me in, because I'm usually in bed before anybody.'

'He'll come and turn the lights out and give me a kiss and we'll talk. He's like, "Ready to be tucked?" I'm like, 'Yes I am.'

Obama once joked to David Cameron's staff that he'd tucked in the Prime Minister who had bedded down on the President's private plane, Air Force One.

America's first couple also use the dog as an excuse to get time alone at the White House.

'We live above the store, which means 6.30pm is dinner,' she told People magazine in the US.

'The first half hour, we're talking to the girls, then we shoo them off to go walk Bo and catch a little check-in without the kids.'

Mrs Obama, 48, has taken living in a goldfish bowl in her stride but has a strict rule about not being photographed in a bathing suit.

In gym workouts she easily outpaces her 50-year-old husband.

Asked if they compete, she said: 'Not anymore, because I'm in way better shape.'

'We spend a lot more time laughing about who is trying to get out of doing their push-ups, who's whining too much.'

- Daily Mail