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Kelly Ripa Finally Makes A Big Co-Host Announcement Following Michael Strahan Exit Debacle

By Perry Carpenter
Published on: 02:55 PST, Sep 7, 2016

Kelly Ripa’s future is looking brighter than ever. After months of speculation, Ripa finally made a big announcement concerning her next co-host, according to ABC News.

Apparently, the powers that be have not found a permanent co-host for the show, so they are offering their fans the opportunity to co-host with Kelly for the day. Fans have until September 20 to apply for the gig here.

But that is not the only news concerning Live with Kelly at the start of the new season. Following Michael Strahan’s controversial departure from Live with Kelly and Michael, the talk show host has been promoted to executive producer. Is the network just trying to make up for the Strahan debacle?

Radar Online is reporting that Ripa was promoted because of everything that went wrong with Strahan’s exit earlier this year. Apparently, ABC executives felt bad about how they handled Strahan’s exit and wanted to make things up with Ripa.

As fans will recall, Ripa had a meltdown after Strahan shockingly announced his departure live on the show. Ripa had no idea that Strahan was joining Good Morning America, and she even took a short leave of absence to deal with the news. In fact, Ripa refused to be a part of the show for four days after Strahan announced his exit.

Of course, Ripa and Strahan eventually put up a united front for the sake of the show, though it was clear that Ripa felt wronged by what happened. In fact, shortly after Strahan’s announcement, an insider revealed that Ripa had “gone rogue” because she didn’t trust anyone affiliated with the network.

It has already been a few months since Strahan’s last appearance on the talk show, and ABC has yet to reveal his replacement.

According to Hollywood Life, Ripa was so angry with ABC executives that they offered her the promotion as a peace offering.

“Apologies have been made and the best thing to come out of all of this, you guys, is that our parent company has assured me that Live is a priority,” Ripa said after her short hiatus.

Despite the promotion, it still isn’t clear who will fill Strahan’s shoes next season. So far, the leading men for the job include Andy Cohen, Jerry O’Connell, and Anderson Cooper, though none of their involvement in the series has been confirmed.

Hopefully, the new promotion will help smooth things over between Kelly Ripa and ABC executives and the selection process for the next host can continue.

Meanwhile, E! Online is reporting that Live with Kelly started off its new season with a fresh start. This includes new velvet chairs and big set changes.

“Wow, they spared no expense,” Ripa said during the season premiere.

Ripa was joined by Morris Chestnut in the season opener, who served as her co-host. Bradley Whitford, Martina McBride, and Chris Noth joined the show as guests. While it still isn’t clear who will be the permanent co-host, Chestnut teased that a big announcement would be made next week.

Will ABC finally reveal Ripa’s new co-host?

Apart from Anderson and Cohen, Ripa has had a lot of different people fill in as co-hosts, including Fred Savage, Rob Lowe, and Jeff Gordon.

For his part, Strahan has already started his new job on Good Morning America. The former NFL star looked more than happy sitting next to George Stephanopoulos, Amy Robach, and Robin Roberts.

Does Strahan regret leaving Live?

“I really haven’t missed it,” he said during an appearance on Chelsea. “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.”

A week following Strahan’s departure, he admitted that being a part of Live was an important step in his career.

“I loved being at Live. It’s a great show, great people and I’m very fortunate to have been a part of it,” he stated.

Hopefully, fans will finally learn who will be replacing Strahan when the next episode of Live with Kelly airs Tuesday on ABC.

Tell us! Who do you think should be Kelly Ripa’s new co-host? Let us know in the comments below.

[Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images]

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