Maury, Maury! Beloved ’90s talk show host Maury Povich weighed in on the never-ending Live With Kelly and Michael drama on Tuesday, May 3, and ripped cohosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan for their recent behavior after the former NFL player announced last month that he was leaving the program for Good Morning America.
“Both of them ought to leave their diva cages,” Povich, 77, the creator and host of his eponymous talk show Maury, told Fox411 on Tuesday. “And be thankful they have an audience.”
Povich, now in the 18th season of his talk show, founded his namesake program in 1991. The show was wildly popular in the ’90s and became notorious for helping guests tackle wild issues with the help of DNA and paternity tests — and campy audience participation.
The TV personality, joined by his wife, Connie Chung, on a recent episode, celebrated a major milestone in showbiz: 3,000 episodes of Maury.
Meanwhile, Strahan is departing Live With Kelly and Michael after just four years on the program. The former NFL player, 44, announced last month that he is heading to Good Morning America for a full-time gig, where he has been appearing a few times a week since 2012. Unfortunately, the delivery of Strahan’s announcement didn’t sit well with Ripa.
A source told Us that the former soap star was “blindsided” by the departure news and there was “drama” once she learned of Strahan’s abrupt exit.
Ripa returned to Live the following week and told viewers: “What transpired though over the course of a few days has been extraordinary in the sense that it started a much greater conversation about communication and consideration and, most importantly, respect in the workplace.” Hours later, Live confirmed to Us that Strahan was leaving the show four months ahead of his original departure.
Strahan addressed the behind-the-scenes drama on the Met Gala red carpet on Monday, May 2. “Every day is great for me. I’m on the other side of the dirt,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “But I’m still looking forward to going to work for Live. … I love being there. I still love it.”
