(LOS ANGELES) — It was a battle of wills on Tuesday when former first lady Michelle Obama squared off against Jimmy Kimmel’s six-year-old daughter, Jane, in an attempt to get the picky eater to try some vegetables.
Obama tried — and failed — to persuade Jane to diversify her diet on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
“So Jane, why don’t you like vegetables?,” the Waffles + Mochi creator started off as the child and her nervous dad sat at the kitchen table.
The six-year-old responded, “Because I don’t really like to try new things.”
Obama, who made healthy eating in schools a priority during her husband Barack Obama’s tenure in the White House, tried to reason with Jane by revealing a little-known secret about herself.
“Do you know… the only thing I’d like to eat for breakfast every morning until I was 19? Peanut butter and jelly,” the former first lady deadpanned.
The story interested the picky eater, but Michelle quickly lost her when redirecting attention back to veggies.
“Here’s what I learned. If you try something new — just try it — that you open up your taste buds and then you’ll like a whole bunch of new things,” coached the Becoming author as Kimmel whipped out a plate of carrots.
Of course, Jane immediately grimaced as Michelle encouraged her to take a small bite.
“No way, I can’t,” the little one declared despite both Kimmel and Obama’s best tactics, and she further fell into her seat when she stared down a plate of green beans.
Jane even rebuked the former first lady’s attempt to play the “small bite game” with her.
Hilariously enough, her little brother Billy saved the segment by proving that he loves eating carrots — leading Obama to declare the experiment “an epic fail” and “a complete set up.”
By Megan Stone
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.