People Magazine is reporting that Live! with Kelly and Michael co-host Michael Strahan will have his last show on Friday, May 13th. Strahan will begin a full-time gig on Good Morning America in September. Incidentally, today marked co-hosts Kelly Ripa’s return to the show after a public feud with ABC and parent company Disney over the way the Strahan announcement was handled.
The source People spoke with says that the idea to end Strahan’s run on Live! early is to give the show more time to find a replacement host. Prior to Strahan’s hiring on Live! four years ago, the program went through a long audition period, trying out a number of potential options as guest hosts. A similar, although perhaps not as lengthy, process is likely this time around as well.
During her returning speech this morning, Ripa said she was happy for and proud of Strahan and his opportunity at GMA. She also said that executives have assured her that Live! is a priority for the company and had apologized to her for the events of last week.