Kelly Ripa is not ready to disclose who her new co-host on Live! will be, but she’s ready to show Michael Strahan the door nonetheless.
Strahan’s last day on the show is Friday, and Ripa’s attitude is basically, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” as anyone who can read between the lines of her new interview with People magazine can see.
“There’s a part of me that can say, ‘OK, I understand. This may have been an oversight,'” Ripa said of being pretty much the last to know of Strahan’s plans to leave the show. “And again, after 26 years, at this point we are like a family. And sometimes when you are so comfortable with somebody, you may not give them the same consideration as somebody you’re not as comfortable with — a certain formality falls away.”
More:We’re secretly hoping Kelly Ripa lets Michael Strahan have it on Live!
“I think that all people are deserving of fair treatment in the workplace. People deserve respect. People should be treated equally and with dignity.
“I think that requires a certain amount of empathy on a level,” she continued. “When you’re dealing with big business, it’s easy to forget that you’re dealing with people and that people have feelings. It’s easy to just look at it like a business unit, a unit, a unit.”
Even less subtle is Ripa’s huge signal to Strahan backstage at Live! each morning. A source says that while she used to sit in the makeup chair with the door open, happily chit-chatting, now her door stays firmly shut in “stay the hell away from me” mode.
More:Michael Strahan makes a promise to Kelly Ripa, but actions speak louder than words
While Ripa will have a series of guest hosts for the next few weeks, a permanent replacement for Strahan has not yet been named. However, Ripa’s good friend and acclaimed journalist Anderson Cooper‘s name has been floating around. Will he take the hot seat?
“Stay tuned,” she told People.
Before you go, check out our slideshow below.
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