Updated April 26 at 6 p.m.: Michael Strahan will leave his post on Live! months earlier than expected, according to the New York Daily News. His last day will be May 13.
Kelly Ripa returned to the show Tuesday after taking some time off to celebrate her 20th anniversary with husband Mark Consuelos. She added a day to deal with the news of Strahan's departure, which she said "blindsided" her.
Original story: Michael Strahan will join Good Morning America full-time.
The move leaves Live! and Kelly Ripa as they were before he joined: man down.
We’re excited to announce @MichaelStrahan is joining the @GMA team full-time! https://t.co/xjCKKO2pL5 pic.twitter.com/RrCFC5iVe4
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 19, 2016
On Monday afternoon, The Wrap reported that Ripa didn't get a lot of notice and that the deal came together quickly.
The NFL Hall of Famer joined Live as co-host in 2012 after Regis Philbin retired. Strahan was a frequent contributor to GMA during the past couple of years.
Suggestion: Regis is really in semi-retirement. When Kathie Lee calls, he joins her on the Today show. I bet he'd come running, slowly.
It took the network almost a year to settle on Strahan when Philbin left. And the popular Strahan took the baton and ran with it. He also appears on the Fox NFL studio show and has signed on to host The $100,000 Pyramid this coming summer.
It probably won't take the network that long to decide on a replacement this time and pundits have already started lists the show can crib from. Neil Patrick Harris or Anderson Cooper, anyone?
In the meantime, congrats are coming to Strahan from all over, even here in Dallas with analyst Troy Aikman chiming in.
Congrats to @foxsports teammate @michaelstrahan on his latest TV gig w @GMA. What's next? @NBCTheVoice??
— Troy Aikman (@TroyAikman) April 19, 2016
