Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan Have Not Spoken Since His ‘GMA’ Announcement
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan have not spoken since Strahan announced that he was leaving Live! With Kelly and Michael and heading to Good Morning America. According to Us Weekly, the co-hosts have not touched base since being together on air on Tuesday morning.
“Michael still hasn’t even heard a peep from her,” said a source.
After learning of Strahan’s decision to go to GMA, Ripa was infuriated. She didn’t show up to work on Wednesday or Thursday and then headed to Turks and Caicos on Friday with her husband, Mark Consuelos. The trip was already planned, however, and wasn’t Ripa’s way of running away from her problems like many people seem to think. Kelly and Mark are celebrating their anniversary, according to a rep.
Kelly Ripa was kept in the dark about Michael Strahan’s plans to move to GMA, and she very upset because she was blindsided. Sources say, however, that Strahan’s hands were tied and that he wasn’t permitted to fill Kelly in because it was “not his place” to do so.
“It wasn’t his place to tell Kelly. The head of the network is supposed to tell the staff these things,” said a source.
According to People Magazine, Kelly Ripa isn’t mad at Michael Strahan over money or because she’s jealous of the opportunity he received. Kelly is hurt because she was kept in the dark.
“This is a fight about respect and consideration and fair treatment. No respect was shown to the commitment Kelly has to this show, to what losing a co-host so soon after last audition process would mean, to how it would make her feel to be left in the dark and then blindsided. There has been zero attempt by anyone on the other side of this to offer a single reasonable explanation for why they would have handled it like this.”
Kelly Ripa, 45, is expected to return to Live! on Tuesday after she returns from her vacation. Since she hasn’t spoken to Michael Strahan since the announcement, nor has she released any kind of statement about the shake-up, many believe that Tuesday’s episode is going to be tense. Needless to say, ratings will undoubtedly be through the roof.
Strahan has been very gracious through all of this and has been sure to praise Kelly, clearly taking the high road.
“I’m very thankful for her, to her, because I’ve learned so much from her. And Michael Gelman showed me the ropes. I was so new to all of this and if it weren’t for her and it weren’t for Michael Gelman and the staff there that really boosted me up and made me look a lot better than I really am, I never would have had a chance to be here and I’m grateful that I’m here. We’re on the same team, same family, same network,” Strahan said.
As previously reported by the Inquisitr, many thought that Kelly Ripa was quitting Live! until Michael Strahan leaves in September. However, because of contractual obligations, she really doesn’t have a choice. Her rep has confirmed that she will be returning to the show after her scheduled time off.
Are you a Kelly Ripa fan? Are you surprised to hear about all of this drama unfolding? Will you miss Michael being on Live?
[Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images]
