Update, April 23: Kelly Ripa will indeed be back to Live! with Kelly and Michael on Tuesday. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the morning show host confirmed her imminent return via an email sent to the show's staff late Friday night
"(Sorry for this late Friday night email)," she began her note to the Live! staff. "I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information. Your kindness, support, and love has overwhelmed me. We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly." Unfortunately for Ripa, this was not the first time she was reportedly blindsided by a Live! co-star's surprise departure announcement. In fact, she predicted this recent turn of events two years ago, when Strahan first started guest-hosting on Good Morning America — but ABC executives ignored her. All of this makes taking a couple days away from the spotlight to process these sudden and very public changes seem more than reasonable.
"(Sorry for this late Friday night email)," she began her note to the Live! staff. "I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information. Your kindness, support, and love has overwhelmed me. We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly." Unfortunately for Ripa, this was not the first time she was reportedly blindsided by a Live! co-star's surprise departure announcement. In fact, she predicted this recent turn of events two years ago, when Strahan first started guest-hosting on Good Morning America — but ABC executives ignored her. All of this makes taking a couple days away from the spotlight to process these sudden and very public changes seem more than reasonable.
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Update: Kelly Ripa will not be returning to Live! with Kelly and Michael for the rest of the week, in the wake of co-star Michael Strahan's surprise exit. "On tomorrow's Live! with Kelly and Michael, Erin Andrews will guest co-host with Michael Strahan. Friday's show — which already was scheduled to pre-tape on Thursday — also will be co-hosted by Andrews," an ABC spokesperson told E! News. "Kelly Ripa will be out on Friday and Monday for a previously scheduled vacation. On Monday's show, Michael will be joined by Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell." Auditions to fill Strahan's role will begin this fall, after his August exit. But based on Ripa's apparent displeasure with Strahan's move to Good Morning America, it's entirely possible that producers might be looking to fill two seats instead of just one.
This story was originally published on April 20, 2016, at 11:30 a.m.
On Tuesday morning, news broke that Michael Strahan is leaving Live! With Kelly and Michael to move over to Good Morning America. On Wednesday morning, his co-host Kelly Ripa skipped out on the talk show. "Good morning, everybody. Kelly is off today," Strahan said, offering no explanation for her absence before confirming news of his departure. Coincidence? Eh, we're not buying it.
Ripa — for whom Ana Gasteyer stepped in on today's episode — has enjoyed Strahan as a co-host for four years. Since 2014, the ex-football player has also been appearing on Good Morning America a couple of days every week. Come September, he will become a full-time anchor on the talk show. But Strahan promises viewers he's not abandoning Live! "I'm always available to guest co-host because I consider myself to be a part of this family forever," he said.
Yeah, tell that to Kelly, Michael!