Kelly Ripa has calmed down and will return to ‘Live!’ on Tuesday, April 26. However, Kelly wants Michael Strahan replaced ASAP and do you blame her? People reported that Kelly sent out an email to angry staffers late Friday night. The talk show queen and former ‘All My Children’ star thanked everyone for allowing her to have some time to process the news that had been dropped by Strahan.
Insiders revealed that Kelly Ripa ended the email by saying, “We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly.”
People got the scoop on how Michael Strahan feels about the entire situation. “He got why she was mad but it was out of his control,” an insider divulged. Michael is said to be relieved Kelly is coming back
There is an upside to letting Kelly and Michael squirm in their co-host seats for a while. Ratings, at least for Tuesday, will probably go through the roof. Who isn’t going to tune in and watch ‘Live!’ to see what happens when Kelly walks out onto the set? The audience may give her a standing ovation and Michael may even join in.
The idle chit-chat will be interesting. Will Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan address the elephant in the room or pretend nothing ever happened? When Regis Philbin retired in 2011 producers matched Ripa up with series of guest co-hosts until Michael was chosen to permanently sit by her side in 2012.
If ABC puts Michael on hiatus until September it won’t be difficult to round-up a revolving door of co-hosts. Anderson Cooper, Joel McHale and Kelly’s husband Mark Consuelos were all popular choices when they guest hosted with Kelly.
It’s not as if Michael doesn’t have enough to keep him busy until he joins ‘Good Morning America.’ The retired NFL player launched a men’s clothing line for J.C. Penney in September of 2015. Michael has been a regular contributor to ‘GMA’ for a few months and he’s co-hosted ‘Pros vs. Joes’ with Fox analyst Jay Glazer.
Whatever happens, Tuesday’s ‘Live!’ show should be interesting. Either viewers are going to get a lot of phoniness or Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan are going to be politely icy toward each other. But, the show must go on.
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