Live! With Kelly and Michael was always a popular talk show that made viewers smile and laugh, but what fans of the show didn’t expect were rumors of tension between their favorite co-hosts Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa.
Since he announced his sudden departure from the morning talk show in 2016, former co-host Strahan has recently cleared the air and explained what really went on behind the scenes of the show.
In an interview with The New York Times, Strahan explained that he didn’t want to feel like a “sidekick” on television, he wanted to be a partner. In the midst of rumors and suspected drama, Strahan said that he wished he had a smooth departure from Live! when he had decided to leave.
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“It could have been handled better. I didn’t wake up and say, ‘I want a job at ‘G.M.A.’ I was asked to do it by the people who run the network. It was not really a choice. It was a request. But it was treated as if I was the guy who walked in and said, ‘I’m leaving.' That part was totally misconstrued, mishandled in every way,” Strahan told The Times. “People who should have handled it better have all apologized, but a lot of the damage had already been done. For me, it was like: Move on. Success is the best thing. Just keep on moving.”
And that is exactly what Strahan did. The 48-year-old athlete-turned-television personality went on to do gigs at another morning talk show, Good Morning America, and at a television game show, The $100,000 Pyramid.
Strahan has since moved on and forgave any tensions he had in the past and even complimented Ripa during his New York Times interview. “If people think, Oh, he hates her--I don’t hate her. I do respect her for what she can do at her job,” Strahan said. “I cannot say enough about how good she is at her job.”
Since Strahan left Live!, Ripa was joined by a series of guest co-hosts until Ryan Seacrest joined the show in May 2017 for Live with Kelly and Ryan.
What are your thoughts on the relationship between Michael Strahan and Kelly Ripa? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
