Michael Strahan Talks Leaving “Live With Kelly And Michael” Amid Conflict With Kelly Ripa: “I Don’t Hate Her”

Michael Strahan is speaking out about the tensions between him and his former co-host #KellyRipa.

On April 19, 2016, Strahan announced he would be leaving the “Live! With Kelly and Michel” show on Good Morning America. Following the announcement, Ripa took an unannounced week off from the show, and many speculated this was her retaliating to Strahan’s sudden departure. The host then ended up leaving the show three months earlier than he originally announced.⠀⠀

Today, Strahan is opening up about the ordeal, explaining that there were issues behind the scenes as well as the tension between himself and Ripa. “When it was time to go, it was time to go. Certain things that were going on behind the scenes just caught up,” he said in an interview with The New York Times. “If people think, ‘Oh, he hates her’ – I don’t hate her. I do respect her for what she can do at her job. I cannot say enough about how good she is at her job,” he said.

Strahan said he tried to resolve their issues, but eventually, Ripa no longer wanted to mediate the situation. “One thing I tried to do is have a meeting every few weeks with her. We met a few times, and that was fine. But then eventually she said she didn’t need to meet. Can’t force somebody to do something they don’t want to do,” he said.

He then expressed how he is often given a “sidekick” position on shows. “On television, 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. I want us all to be successful. I’ve done things where I went in with team concepts, and I got there and realized it’s not about team. It’s selfish, and I don’t operate well under that.” He added that his exit from the program was falsely reported.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

“It was treated as if I was the guy who walked in and said, ‘I’m leaving.’ That part was totally misconstrued, mishandled in every way,” he said. “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 how things turned out, Strahan said his time with Ripa helped him as a host.

“You learn how to craft a story. ‘What did you do last night?’ ‘Oh, I had a glass of water.’ But you learn to tell the story to make it seem like the most interesting glass of water. Those are things that I learned from her. She’s brilliant in that way,” said Strahan.