While Michael Strahan’s exit from Live! With Kelly and Michael for a new role at Good Morning America produced plenty of off-air drama, with co-host Kelly Ripa not appearing on the show for several days after his departure was announced in protest of the lack of notice she received, the two exchanged fond on-air and off-air farewells in Strahan’s final appearance Friday. Here are Strahan’s comments from after the show:
The key part: “I really have to thank Kelly. You changed my life, you really have. And to come here every day and to be new to this type of format of TV, and to learn from somebody who had done it for 12 years before I got here, it was amazing. You are incredible, this show is going to continue to be great.”
For her part, Ripa had plenty of praise for Strahan, giving him a bunch of farewell gifts (including the 16-inch bronzed heels seen above, which were the ones he wore on the show’s Halloween episode) and sending him off with an on-air toast:
Kelly Ripa Toasts Michael Strahan on His Final Episode of Live! https://t.co/BvdMxWQoGB
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) May 13, 2016
It will be interesting to see how Strahan does in his new full-time role at GMA, but he certainly adapted to morning TV pretty well during his Live! stint, and even successfully juggled it with GMA appearances and regular FOX NFL Sunday work. We’ll see how things go for him from here.
