And so it begins. On the eve of his departure from Live With Kelly and Michael, Michael Strahan told Us Weekly exclusively that he will miss the show — though he refused to address his relationship with work wife Kelly Ripa.
The talk show host — and soon-to-be full-time Good Morning America cohost — attended TimeCrafters 2016 Luxury Watch Show at the Park Avenue Armory on Thursday, May 12, where he walked the red carpet and bonded with fellow celebrity ambassador Patrick Dempsey. An observer told Us that Strahan appeared to be in good spirits, and although he didn’t seem to know the former Grey’s Anatomy actor that well, the two formed a bromance.
The eyewitness said both were laughing “a lot,” and Dempsey even told the former New York Giants player that he was a “big fan.” Strahan replied, “Same.”
Us Weekly spoke briefly to Strahan, 44, who didn’t do interviews at Thursday’s red carpet event with other outlets. Strahan told Us that he was going to miss “so many things!” about Live, where he cohosted alongside Ripa for four years.
Us also asked Strahan whether the dust has settled with Ripa now that he’s on his way out.
“I can’t,” Strahan replied, motioning to his publicist. “Sorry.”
The handsome NYC resident, however, opened up to DuJour magazine this past week about his transition to ABC’s morning show. “I’m looking forward to moving to Good Morning America full-time, but I loved being at Live,” he told the luxury magazine. “It’s a great show, great people, and I’m very fortunate to have been a part of it.”
Unfortunately, his exit was marred by tension between him and his bubbly cohost Ripa, who was upset about how his GMA announcement was handled last month. A source told Us that Ripa, 45, was “blindsided” by the news, which prompted her to call out sick the following day. She then took a preplanned vacation and finally returned to work the next week, where she addressed the drama live.
“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,” she told viewers.
That same day, Strahan announced that he would be leaving Live four months ahead of schedule. Since then, Ripa has made numerous jabs at Strahan on air, including bringing up contract negotiations and his divorces. She also reminded audience members in one special episode that she was “still here” when they booed Strahan’s departure.
Strahan concluded to DuJour in his interview that he was ready for change. “I feel like in a lot of ways I had to earn everything,” he told the mag. “That’s not the easiest thing, especially in this city, because as much as you have success, people love to see you fail — and I’ve been on the end of a lot of failures.”
