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Kelly Ripa Only Learned Of ‘Live With Kelly And Michael’ Co-Host’s Departure 30 Minutes Before Live Announcement

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 19:43 PST, May 10, 2016

Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan won big at the Daytime Emmy Awards last Sunday, according to Us Magazine. But neither Ripa nor Strahan showed up at the event to receive the award in person and deliver an acceptance speech.

The award for Best Entertainment Talk Show comes at a slightly awkward time for both Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, as the former NFL star recently announced his departure from ABC’s Live with Kelly and Michael and goes to Good Morning America instead.

So naturally, neither Kelly Ripa nor her co-host were in the mood for celebrating the award. It was Dr. Oz who accepted the award on behalf of Ripa and the former NFL pro. Dr. Oz said the pair will share the award after he passes it to them.

But just because Kelly Ripa didn’t show up at the awards show doesn’t mean she was depressed and down in the dumps this weekend. Instead, the Live with Kelly and Michael host had something else to celebrate.

It was Kelly Ripa’s 20th wedding anniversary with her husband Mark Consuelos that kept the daytime TV host busy this weekend. Ripa celebrated the special occasion with an adorable Instagram pic of the couple cuddling up.

“The Roaring 20! I love you”

As for Kelly Ripa’s Live with Kelly and Michael co-host, Strahan still loves the ABC show despite his plans to move to Good Morning America. The former NFL star told reporters at the Met Gala this Monday that “everyone got the wrong impression” of what happened with his departure from the ABC show, according to ET Online.

“Every week is great, every day is great for me. I’m on the other side of the dirt. Yeah I’m looking forward to [moving to Good Morning America full-time], but I’m still looking forward to going to work for Live!… I love being there. I still love it.”

Strahan also added that it’s “a great show” and great people he’s working with, probably hinting at his co-host Kelly Ripa. As for the award, the TV host called it a “testament to our staff, and the work we put in.”

But he admitted that the win was big for the show, adding that the award surprised both himself and his co-host, Kelly Ripa.

But many believe that Kelly Ripa was blindsided at work when her co-host suddenly announced his departure from the morning show, according to Fortune. Strahan chose a full-time gig on Good Morning America instead of continuing to host the ABC show with Ripa.

The two have co-hosted the popular morning show for five years, and it appears that Kelly Ripa was not given any advance warning about Strahan’s plans to exit the show. In fact, Ripa found out about the former NFL star’s departure from Live! With Kelly and Michael only 30 minutes before he announced it on live television.

But Strahan himself admitted that his decision wasn’t impulsive and that it had been “in the works” for quite some time. But it appears that he had failed to share his plans with his co-host, Kelly Ripa.

And what especially frustrated Kelly Ripa is the fact that after working with ABC nearly 30 years nobody even cared to mention anything about her fellow host’s plans to leave the show. In fact, the TV host reportedly felt so betrayed by both Strahan and the entire ABC team that she took sick leave.

It’s widely believed that she was never sick in the first place, and her sick leave may have just been an opportunity for her to think about the whole situation.

[Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images]

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