Michael Strahan has been all over the news this week thank to the announcement that he’s leaving “Live With Kelly & Michael” to become a full-time anchor on “Good Morning America.” Although news of Strahan’s departure is reportedly not sitting well with his co-host, Kelly Ripa, Strahan’s ex-fiancée, Nicole Murphy, recently spoke out about Strahan’s power move and praised him for his latest accomplishment.
As previously reported, Strahan has been a part-time anchor on “GMA” for some time now, but he recently landed a lucrative contract to join the show’s roster of anchors full time come this September. Although Strahan is excited about his next big move, reports claim that Ripa was furious because she was told about Strahan’s departure just a few minutes before ABC made the announcement to the world on Tuesday.
Ripa didn’t show up for work on Wednesday or Thursday and she isn’t expected to come back till next Tuesday, but sources say that Ripa had scheduled vacation time on Friday and Monday.
But while fans are busy debating whether or not Strahan handled the announcement well or not, Murphy decided to avoid the controversy when she spoke about Strahan’s success in a recent interview and instead focused on the benefits of Strahan joining such venerable morning news program.
“I think it’s a smart move on his part to be quite honest, I mean ‘GMA,’ you can’t get any bigger than that. This really will establish him as far as what he’s doing, I think it’s great. He was great on ‘Kelly and Michael,’ but he’s also awesome on ‘Good Morning America,’ ” Murphy said.
And Strahan himself mirrored that excitement about “GMA” when he initially spoke about his new position on the team.
“I look forward to continuing to work with the incredible team at ‘GMA.’ It is an exciting opportunity to be able to bring unique stories and voices to the audience. My time with ‘Live With Kelly and Michael’ has been transformative, and my departure will be bittersweet. Kelly has been an unbelievable partner, and I am so thankful to her and the entire team. I am extremely grateful for the amazing support I’ve received from all of the fans,” Strahan said.
