Michael Strahan Talks Life After Live: “I’ve Learned

Do you believe in life after Live? Michael Strahan sure does.

After leaving the daytime talk show after co-hosting it with Kelly Ripa for more than three years and following months of drama related to his departure, the former New York Giants star says he has “learned to have fun.”

Strahan had left the show in May and will soon join Good Morning America full-time. His departure was announced to viewers around the same time show executives told co-host Kelly Ripa about it and she was “livid” about being kept in the dark, immediately becoming absent from the show for four weekdays.

Before he left, they reunited on the air for several more episodes, during which things seemed tense between the two. She even appeared to make jokes at Strahan’s expense. She has been joined by celebrity guest co-hosts since his departure and no permanent replacement for him has been announced.

When asked what he has learned from the past few months, Strahan told E! News exclusively, “You know what? I’ve learned to have fun. Life is not that serious.” 

He made his comments Thursday while standing beside his 11-year-old twin daughters, Sophia and Isabella, at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s screening of Ice Age: Collision Course in New York Thursday. Strahan portrays Teddy, a Palaeolagus, or prehistoric hare, in the movie.

“We have so many things that happen that make you realize how precious life is, how you’d better enjoy every day and that your attitude is—you can determine what your attitude is,” he told E! News.

“You wake up, you make yourself happy, you make yourself whatever you want it to be, and that’s how I look at it every day that I wake up and that’s been more than in the last few months,” he said. “That’s just the way I live my life.” 

After he left Live, Strahan had said on the Netflix show Chelsea, “I really haven’t missed it,” adding, “But I loved it. Don’t get me wrong. I loved it. When you get a break, sometimes you kind of go, ‘Wow, I kind of needed it.’ I needed a break.”

Strahan will join Good Morning America as a full-time co-host in September after serving as a part-time contributor since 2014.

“Can’t wait to be there full-time,” he told E! News. “Great, great family to work with over there. I’m looking forward to it.”