After a not-so-great exit of Michael Strahan from "Live With Kelly and Michael," Kelly Ripa is reportedly now the executive producer of the show, which has been changed into "Live With Kelly." Accordingly, this move was done in order to keep Ripa from getting mad due to the exit of Strahan.
In a report by Hollywood Life, the promotion of Ripa was because she was very upset and angry that Strahan moved to "Good Morning America" and made the announcement on then-"Live With Kelly and Michael" when she was not around and was on leave. 45-year-old Ripa did not come to the show for a few episodes after the 44-year-old announced his exit in April.
According to her statements, she was very upset about Strahan leaving because she was not informed about it ahead of time and that she found out about it the same time that the audience of the ABC show knew about it.
Aside from having Strahan exit "Live With Kelly and Michael" earlier than scheduled, ABC reportedly decided to offer Ripa the position of executive producer of "Live With Kelly" to ease the tensions, International Business Times reported. An insider said during the time that there was drama and tension on the ABC show that Ripa felt Strahan not telling her about his plans to leave the show as the ultimate betrayal.
True enough, Ripa said when she came back on the show on April 26 that she considers "Live With Kelly and Michael" not just her workplace but her second home. She said that the incident sparked a much greater conversation about communication, consideration, and respect on the show.
"Live With Kelly" still has not found the perfect partner for Ripa. She continues to have guest co-hosts including Andy Cohen, Anderson Cooper, and Jerry O'Connell. It remains unclear who have been shortlisted to possibly join Ripa as her co-host on "Live With Kelly."
