In a report by Hollywood Life, the promotion of Ripa was because she was very upset and angry that Strahan moved to “Good Morning America” and made the announcement on then-“Live With Kelly and Michael” when she was not around and was on leave.
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The 44-year-old former National Football League pro was welcomed with open arms by Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos and the GMA team, and got a surprise visit from his friend Usher.
Roberts referred to the video: “It is great to have you full-time with us”.
Strahan joined ABC’s line-up in 2012, when he replaced Regis Philbin as a co-host on Live! “It does feel like the first day of school around here, doesn’t it?”
“The only thing I’m missing is my Spider-man lunch box”, Strahan joked.
Strahan has appeared numerous times before as a GMA correspondent, but he announced this spring that he was leaving Live to pursue that gig full-time. After the drama that ensued due to Ripa finding out about Michael Strahan’s departure at the last possible second, it looks like ABC’s parent company, Disney, is putting Kelly’s feelings and her overall insight for Live! as their top priority. “I always speak from my heart”.
Of course, if it weren’t for Kelly Ripa’s spiteful nature, Michael Strahan wouldn’t have been forced to leave earlier than scheduled. And that’s probably why any celebrity with good sense has been staying away from her, as she can’t seem to find a Michael Strahan replacement even though the new season for her morning talk show is only a few weeks away. Still, she said that the situation had created an environment that leant itself to more open conversations among the cast and crew as well as a newly established level of “respect”. This means ABC has nearly a solid two weeks to find a new co-host that will join Kelly Ripa on a permanent basis. “And you guys opened up your hearts to me, you opened up your homes to me”.
“I’ve done this for four years… It means the world that you give us an hour of your day”.
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Michael Strahan made his debut as a full-time host on “GMA” on Tuesday.
