Time doesn't heal all wounds.
Time doesn't heal all wounds.
In an interview for Time magazine's upcoming Feb. 4 issue, Michael Strahan opens up about his relationship with Kelly Ripa, three years after he left his gig with her at Live for a full-time position at Good Morning America. As the former football player reveals, despite four years of co-hosting a daily talk show, he and Ripa are no longer in touch.
“I haven’t spoken to her in a long time,” Strahan tells the outlet. "I learned through all that went down with that, you can’t convince people to like you."
Strahan suddenly announced his exit from Live in April 2016, with Strahan nor ABC giving Ripa a head's up on the decision. Ripa called out of work the next few days, and upon her return, explained to the audience that after 26 years with the network, she “earned the right” to take some time off to “gather [her] thoughts.”
A few weeks of awkward banter between Strahan and Ripa followed, before Strahan's exit was moved up to May 13, months sooner than planned. Disney/ABC Television Group President Ben Sherwood later admitted to The Hollywood Reporter that "mistakes" were made in terms of handling Strahan's departure.
In September 2016, Strahan confirmed that his relationship with Ripa had been damaged by the ordeal. "At one point I think we were friends," he told People at the time. "I don't know what happened at the end. I learned a lot from her, though."
"The most disappointing thing to me was that I was painted as the bad guy, because I value the way I carry myself," he added. "I don't want people to see me as 'Oh, he just ran out, just left them there.' That's just not true."
Strahan now co-hosts GMA's third hour, GMA Day, with Sara Haines, while Ripa found a new Live co-host in Ryan Seacrest, who permanently joined the show in May 2017, after a string of rotating guests. See more in the video below.
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