Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan set to be reunited years after feud as GMA moves from Times Square office
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan set to be reunited years after feud as GMA moves from Times Square office
ABC employees are expecting an unbearably tense reunion between two famed ex-costars who will be forced to work just steps apart after their messy falling out.
Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan hosted Live! together for four years before their explosive public feud following Strahan’s abrupt decision to join Good Morning America in 2016.
Their split has sparked nearly a decade of back-and-forth, with the former NFL player blasting Ripa for being ‘selfish‘ and Ripa claiming she was ‘blindsided’ by his shock departure.
After years of avoiding each other, the pair will soon have no choice but to face each other as the set of GMA is moving from its Time Square building to the same Upper West Side space as Ripa’s show in June.
And with GMA airing from 7am to 9am and Live with Kelly and Mark, Ripa’s show with her husband Mark Consuelos, running from 9am to 10am, there is bound to be some uncomfortable overlap.
‘They will be feet away from each other – he will be able to smell her perfume,’ an ABC insider told the New York Post.
‘The staff is on tenterhooks. These two do not speak.’
It has previously been reported that Ripa ‘refuses to be in the same room as Michael’ and ‘won’t be anywhere near him.’
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GMA is the second-most viewed show in its timeslot, just recently losing its top-spot to NBC’s Today show (pictured left to right: Strahan, Robin Roberts, and George Stephanopoulos)
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Kelly Ripa (left) now co-hosts Live with Kelly and Mark with her husband Mark Consuelos (right)
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An inside source has revealed that ABC is bracing for conflict once Ripa (left) and Strahan (right) have to work under the same roof once again
But other sources familiar with Ripa and Strahan’s professional and personal split have debunked that idea, with one saying ‘neither of them are avoiding each other’ in 2023.
Regardless, the insider told the Post that ABC is bracing for impact and strategically planning to keep them out of each other’s sight.
‘Plans are in place to get Michael and Kelly in and out without crossing paths,’ the anonymous source told the outlet.
‘The good news is they both tend to leave pretty quickly after taping. Still, if their schedules overlap, ABC will need a Plan B.’
Despite these bombshell predictions of highly-anticipated conflict, ABC has fiercely refuted claims that Ripa or Strahan would be anything but professional in the workplace.
‘There is absolutely no truth to this – both Kelly and Michael are consummate professionals and are excited to continue to co-host their top-rated shows in our new state of the art studios,’ an ABC spokesperson wrote to the Post.
Someone close to Ripa echoed ABC’s sentiment, telling the outlet: ‘Apparently some petty person is trying to relive the spring of 2016 by bringing this up again, even though there has not been a single conflict between them in the nine years since.’
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After years of avoiding each other, the pair will soon have no choice but to face each other as the set of GMA is moving from its Time Square building to the same Upper West Side space (pictured) as Ripa’s show
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Kelly Ripa (middle) and Michael Strahan (right), who hosted Live! together for four years before their explosive public feud following Strahan’s decision to jump ship and join Good Morning America in 2016
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ABC News boss Almin Karamehmedovic (pictured)
Keeping the alleged enemies at bay is in the Disney-owned network’s best interest, as GMA and Live with Kelly and Mark are two of its best performing shows.
GMA is the second-most viewed show in its timeslot, just recently losing its top-spot to NBC’s Today show.
Live with Kelly and Mark remains the number one program for the 9am to 10am timeslot.
Ripa and Strahan’s Live! also achieved high rating, as it attracted 268,000 more daily viewers compared to Ripa’s show with her previous co-host, Regis Philbin.
However, it all fell apart when Ripa learned Strahan was leaving Live! one hour before the rest of the world found out in April 2016.
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GMA pulls in the second-highest viewership for its timeslot and is set to move from its Time Square building to the same Upper West Side space as Ripa’s show
Ripa made it clear she was angry with both the network and Strahan, missing four episodes after the news broke.
Although the pair seemingly cleared the air on national television a few days later, they did not stay in each other’s good graces for long after that.
Strahan later revealed he had felt more like Ripa’s sidekick than her equal, and they had conflicting work styles.
