Michelle Obama is Walters' 'secret' most fascinating person

Earlier this month, Walters had revealed nine of the persons on her "10 Most Fascinating People" list for the current year, but had kept the final person of the list a secret.

First Lady gets the top spot
Walters revealed the tenth most fascinating person of the year during Wednesday night’s ABC special "Barbara Walters Presents: The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2009."

Walters picked the first lady as the most fascinating person of 2009 during her annual ABC special, in which she highlights some of the year's most prominent names in entertainment, sports, politics, and pop culture.

Michelle, who along with his family moved to Washington, D.C. almost a year ago, is on the top spot of the list.

The first African-American First Lady, whose commander-in-chief hubby topped Walters' list last year, sat with Walters for a candid interview, in which she opened up about her widely famous fit body, toned arms, her opinion about the healthy living, and of course her “whirlwind” transition to the White House.

"It has been a whirlwind. But it's been amazing," she told Walters. "I mean, if you think about this year, I had to get these two beautiful girls settled into a new city, into a new home, into a new school. We got a dog. I visited eight countries with my husband. I planted a garden. I've started a mentoring program. It has been everything. And now, here we are at our first Christmas in the White House."

Determination made Michelle a gym rat
Michelle, who often joins her hubby in the White House gym, revealed to Walters that her workout regimen began after the birth of their first daughter, Malia.

"My personal routine hasn't changed much in the past 11 years," she said. "I really started right after I had Malia, our oldest, and some of that was, you know, in all honesty it was a little sort of revenge because I'm married to a man who has worked out all of his life. And regardless of how busy he is, he finds the time to work out. And there was a point at which I got a little resentful of that."

"[Malia] was still waking up for that four o'clock feeding and I'd get up because I'd be the first one to hear her, and he'd be asleep," she added. "And I thought, 'I'm up, I might as well go to the gym. And if I get to the gym, then he'll have to wake up and do that feeding.' I get a workout in and everyone will be happy. So you know, if there's anything that I can attribute these arms to, it's probably just determination."

This year's other biggest newsmakers
Other members on this year's list: Adam Lambert, Sarah Palin (who also made the list last year), Lady Gaga, Tyler Perry, Glenn Beck, Kate Gosselin, Jenny Sanford (the wife of disgraced South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford), Brett Favre and Michael Jackson's three children- Prince Michael Joseph, 12, Paris Michael Katherine, 11, and Prince Michael II, (known as Blanket), 7, whom Walters is counting as one person.