You probably thought the Kelly Ripa-Michael Strahan feud was over, didn’t you?
You probably assumed this unexpected rivalry had ended after Strahan left Live! on ABC after an ugly professional divorce, right?
Apparently not.
The former football star departed Live! on acrimonious terms this spring, following three successful years that saw him grow into a certified media star.
He has originally planned to stick around until the fall before leaving for a full-time gig with Good Morning America…
… but Kelly Ripa reacted harshly to the way in which she found out about his career change and Strahan’s departure date was moved up to May 13.
That’s what happens when there’s such tension on the set every day that one co-host blindsides the other co-host with a reference to his divorce:
According to insiders, Ripa was “livid” over not being well-informed over Strahan’s future, only being told about his Good Morning America decision immediately before the public learned of it.
The subsequent set of episodes that featured Kelly and Michael were as awkward as live television can get.
So… after a crazy last few months, what has Strahan learned?
He was asked this question by E! News this week and replied as follows:
“You know what? I’ve learned to have fun. Life is not that serious.”
Whoa there! Is there any way to take that other than as a direct shot aimed at Ripa?
It doesn’t sound like he had a blast working along her side, does it? At least not over the past few weeks.
Strahan made his comments Thursday while standing beside his 11-year-old twin daughters, Sophia and Isabella; they were at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s screening of Ice Age: Collision Course in New York.
The star has a speaking role in that animated film.
“We have so many things that happen that make you realize how precious life is, how you’d better enjoy every day and that your attitude is – you can determine what your attitude is,” Strahan told E! News.
He added:
“You wake up, you make yourself happy, you make yourself whatever you want it to be, and that’s how I look at it every day that I wake up and that’s been more than in the last few months.
“That’s just the way I live my life.”
That all sounds great. There’s no way to argue with that philosophy.
But there’s no way to look at it as anything but a diss of Ripa, either.
