So much for Michael Strahan's departure from "Live" being mutually bittersweet for him and his co-host Kelly Ripa. It seems to be ALL bitter for Kelly as reports say she was totally blindsided by his announcement! That may explain why she was no-show for work today. Deets inside...
After riding high on the news of him joining the's #1 morning show "Good Morning America" full time, Michael Strahan is in some hot water today. Reportedly, his fellow "Live!" host Kelly Ripa was blindsided by the news that he was leaving their show and she found out with everyone else. Ouch!
A source close to The Wrap says Michael's new deal came together in only the last five days:
“This came together very quickly. I don’t think they told [Kelly Ripa] everything,” the source added, saying it was not the first time Ripa had been kept “in the dark.”
Damn.
The Wrap continued:
"[Michael] wanted to make the move,” the source said, adding that Strahan, who has been a frequent “GMA” guest in the past two years, wanted the opportunity to pursue a greater range of stories and topics than he could pursue on “Live.”
Seeing that Michael was doing part-time co-hosting on "GMA" this past year or so, it seems pretty obvious he was testing to be full time on the morning show. So it's unclear why the move would be such a surprise to his "Live" family, unless Kelly wasn't told anything at all about the final decision.
Then there's this:
There may be tension on set as well. “Kelly has been very moody and emotional the past couple of years and Strahan was dreading going to work,” said one high-ranking daytime TV veteran who insisted on anonymity.
Hmmm...
E! News reports Kelly and other key staffers were kept in the dark to prevent leaks. And here's how they found out:
About an hour after LIVE! With Kelly and Michael aired Tuesday, an internal memo at ABC revealed he would be leaving the show by summer's end to work on Good Morning America full-time. His co-host, Kelly Ripa, did not receive a heads up. In fact, E! News has learned that executives broke the news to her just after the show finished taping—around the same time everyone else first heard about it. "She was livid," a source says exclusively. "It wasn't pretty."
Strahan joined Ripa and others in the meeting. "He wanted to be there. He didn't have to be, but he didn't want to have her hear it and not be there," the source says. "He tried to do the stand up thing." Strahan, who replaced Regis Philbin in 2012, has been a correspondent on ABC's Good Morning America since 2014. When executives decided to move him to the news show full-time, they intentionally kept Ripa and others key staff members in the dark to prevent leaks. "That was a network decision," the source says, adding that it was a carefully executed plan. "It wasn't an overnight decision and took some time to put it in place."
This morning, Kelly was a no-show at work. Actress Ana Gasteyer filled in for her, but it's unclear if this as a pre-scheduled absence or an emergency. The show's publicist refused to comment in detail. Based on the alleged drama, we're going with Kelly just wasn't feeling being at work with Michael today.
Interestingly, Michael started off the show telling the audience he would be leaving the show this September. He waited until the end of the show to thank Kelly saying:
"I really want to thank, of course, Kelly Ripa, because Kelly welcomed me here and I've learned so much from her, and she's just been an amazing influence on me. This has truly changed my life to be here with her, and I know that the show will continue to be strong and great because of Kelly...Kelly, I thank you. I love you and everyone else here at LIVE!."
We watch this show daily, and they are BIG on long, drawn out good-byes. So a quickie good-bye from Michael on a day Kelly isn't even there, it does seem a bit off.
These next few months should be interesting...
Photos: Instagram
