“I didn’t know I was supposed to be a sidekick”: Kelly Ripa Made Michael Strahan Feel Small, Didn’t Consider Him as a Partner Forcing Him to Leave
Kelly Ripa has been working in Live! for a long time. For the past 22 years, she has been a constant personality on the ABC show and continues to see several things. Her charming, bubbly personality was what made her popular among fans, however, her relationships with her former co-hosts was never easy. After the original star, Regis Philbin left the show, Michael Strahan took his place to run the Live! along with the former. Though, things were evidently not good!
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The 51-year-old former footballer is known to have bad blood with the Live! host, which he clearly shared when he discussed his departure from the show Live with Kelly and Michael in 2016.
Kelly Ripa Belittled Her Former Co-Host, Michael Strahan in Live!
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The former co-host duo is known to have a strained relationship.
Michael Strahan, the former co-host of Live! with Kelly Ripa discussed his controversial departure from the show in an interview with The New York Times in 2020, stating how he never realized that he was more of a “sidekick” in the show.
The duo was hosting the ABC show for four seasons, however, the former footballer realized, “it’s not about team. It’s selfish, and I don’t operate well under that.”
Rather than going with the “team concepts,” he had to deal with something else.
“I’ve had jobs where I got there and felt like ‘Wow, I didn’t know I was supposed to be a sidekick. I thought I was coming here to be a partner.’”
This might be how his relationship with Ripa started to go on bad terms.
Michael Strahan Thinks That His Departure from Live! Could Have Been Managed Better
The TV host opened up about his controversial Live! exit from the show and thinks that it could have been handled in a more diligent way rather than the controversy which happened at the time. “It could have been handled better,” Strahan told the outlet in 2020.
He shared,
“I didn’t wake up and say, ‘I want a job at ‘GMA.’ I was asked to do it by the people who run the network. It was really not a choice. It was a request. But it was treated as if I was the guy who walked in and said, ‘I’m leaving.’”
He stated how he became the bad guy there, which was wrong.
“That part was totally misconstrued, mishandled in every way. People who should have handled it better have all apologized, but a lot of the damage had already been done. For me, it was like: Move on. Success is the best thing. Just keep on moving.”
Despite the off-screen drama the duo was engaged in, Strahan left the show early and moved to Good Morning America, becoming a regular contributor. Meanwhile, Ripa has since moved on and is happily working with Ryan Seacrest.
Source: New York Times
