Well, folks, it looks like the shit has really hit the fan now. On Tuesday morning it was announced that Michael Strahan would be leaving his four-year gig co-hosting Live! with Kelly and Michael, alongside Kelly Ripa, for the greener pastures of Good Morning America. It appears that Ripa is not happy about, apparently, being blindsided with his decision. She’ll be absent from the show for the next three days.
A report from TVLine tells us that Kelly Ripa, who pulled a surprise no-show on the Live! with Kelly and Michael set this morning, will be gone through Monday, per an announcement from ABC. A network spokesperson said that Ripa already had scheduled vacation time for this Friday and Monday, but did not note why she would be gone from the show tomorrow. Today, Michael Strahan hosted opposite Saturday Night Live alum Ana Gasteyer, while Thursday and Friday’s shows will be guest co-hosted by Erin Andrews, and Monday’s show will give guest co-hosting duties to Pretty Little Liars actress Shay Mitchell.
As we all know, suddenly not showing up to work is not a good look. And when your job involves appearing on live TV and talking to celebrities, it’s really not a great idea to pull a no-show, and we have no idea right now what reason Kelly Ripa gave for not going in to work. Ripa began her talk show days in 2001, when she took over after Kathie Lee Gifford departed the show she co-hosted with Regis Philbin. Ripa then worked alongside Philbin until he left the show. Aside from the fact that Ripa, reportedly, had no prior knowledge of Michael Strahan’s decision to leave, I can see her being annoyed at having found someone she has an on-air rapport with, after a lengthy search for Philbin’s replacement, and then having to go through that process all over again so soon.
On top of all that, as we reported earlier, it looks like there might be some major shakeups going on over at ABC when it comes to their morning programming. It’s possible that they’ve moved Michael Strahan to GMA because they plan to pull out of the Live! with Kelly and Whoever business and simply add a third hour of Good Morning America to the docket. Finding out that you might be out of a job is certainly something that would make most people pause before heading into the office.
We might not have much in the way of daytime soap operas on the air anymore, but Michael Strahan’s exit from Live! with Kelly and Michael is certainly turning into some prime daytime drama. We’ll keep you up to date on the latest information as it arises. You can watch Strahan in his current talk show post through September.
