Michelle Obama photographed with natural hair after eight years of keeping it straight in White House

Former First Lady has been praised for the hairstyle and fans have called her a role model

Praise for the hair immediately poured in on Twitter and people called the Chicago native a role model (Getty)

Michelle Obama might have been keeping a relatively low profile since leaving the White House but her devoted legions of fans are still closely following her every move.

As such, the former First Lady has been photographed sporting her natural, curly hair. The image, which has quickly gone viral, has been widely praised across various social media platforms.

Despite the fact Ms Obama, who married Barack Obama in 1992, opted to blow dry or straighten her hair while living in the White House, fans often superimposed images of Ms Obama with curly hair and articles speculated about what she would look like with her natural do.

Ms Obama, who has held consistently high approval ratings with the US public, has been lauded for the image which has been liked 84,000 times and retweeted over 30,000 times since it was shared by a fan.

It is not clear where or when the photo was taken but the outgoing First Lady is currently in French Polynesia with her husband. The former president is writing his White House memoir at a resort in Tetiaroa – the South Pacific island once owned by Marlon Brando.

People have heaped praise upon Ms Obama on Twitter and called the Chicago native a role model. One fan said: “Seeing Michelle Obama's natural hair is life changing".

Some said they had long been waiting for this moment and questioned why she had not worn her hair naturally in the White House.

“Seeing Michelle Obama wear her hair natural while serving as First Lady... would've made my whole life,” said one.

Ms Obama was undoubtedly one of the most enduringly popular figures of the 2016 election. Bolstered by consistently high popularity ratings, the First Lady was applauded for her barnstorming speech against Mr Trump last Autumn and her impassioned efforts on the campaign trail.

After Donald Trump’s seismic victory, discussion about whether Ms Obama would run for president went into overdrive. Nevertheless, the Chicago-born lawyer has ruled out running for office when pressed about it.

During her time in Washington, Ms Obama carved out a massive online presence, garnering 7.6m followers on Twitter and 11.9m on Instagram. She even has Snapchat and has appeared on James Corden’s wildly popular Carpool Karaoke.