Earlier this week, after confirming his departure from Live with Kelly and Michael, Michael Strahan appeared on the Good Morning America set and referred to Kelly Ripa as part of his “family.”
But there’s clearly a growing feud within this family that even Steve Harvey would have trouble mending.
An insider tells E! News that the Live! co-hosts still have not spoken since the ABC executive meeting held on Tuesday morning in which Ripa learned that Strahan would be moving to GMA in September.
As has been well documented at this point, Ripa was livid over how the situation was handled, as she was told of the news right around the same time as the public.
Kelly did not appear on the subsequent Live! episode on Wednesday, which featured Strahan awkwardly acknowledging his co-host of four years only toward the end of the broadcast:
Despite the fact that Strahan has not made a point to reach out to Ripa, “he has no bad blood towards her… and is looking forward to start his new chapter with his new team,” a source tells E!.
Strahan did mention Ripa at length during his appearance yesterday on GMA, telling his future co-workers and the audience at home:
“I’m going to miss everybody at Live!.
“I’ve been sitting next to Kelly every day and having a lot of fun on that show for the last four years. I’m very thankful for her – to her -because I learned so much from her.”
Ripa, meanwhile, has not said a word about the transition or how it went down.
She is off on a previously scheduled vacation with her family and will not appear again on Live! until Tuesday at the earliest.
Erin Andrews will serve as guest co-host again today and Shay Mitchell will fill in on Monday.
At this point, it’s likely that Ripa will remain on the show because she’s getting paid nearly $ 15 million per year and no feud is worth forfeiting that contract.
But might she walk when the deal is over? Might she return to the world of soap operas where her career started? We doubt it.
Still… stay tuned!
