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It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a few months since Michael Strahan’s controversial and sudden exit from Live! because so much drama has happened since then.

There was Kelly Ripa’s initial reaction, which included her taking some time off from her hosting gig and being livid over being blindsided, Michael quickly accepting a new job with Good Morning America, and the quest for a new permanent host that has yet to be filled. Throw in some interviews from both former co-workers and it’s been a pretty rocky summer.

Michael is the latest cover story for People magazine and in it he gives all the details about leaving his position at Live!, loving his new position at Good Morning America, and where his relationship with Kelly stands today.

Via E! Online:

[On Kelly Ripa]: [After the noticeable onscreen tension once he announced his exit] Strahan left Live! early at executives’ request. “I wasn’t surprised by her reaction at all, but I can’t control somebody else’s actions,” Strahan confesses. 

Regarding the fallout from his exit, the former NFL player confesses, “The most disappointing thing to me was that I was painted as the bad guy, because I value the way I carry myself. I don’t want people to see me as ‘Oh, he just ran out, just left them there.’ That’s just not true.”

Even now, Strahan isn’t sure what to make of his relationship with Ripa. “At one point I think we were friends. I don’t know what happened at the end,” he says. “I learned a lot from her, though.” Toward the end, he says, they “didn’t really communicate” as much as they once had. “I kinda looked at it like, ‘It was what it was,'” he explains. “I come from a business where you have to collaborate. The show was going well? We’re all winning. That’s all that matters to me.”

To read the full cover on Michael, you can pick up the latest issue of People magazine on newsstands Friday. Surely both Michael and Kelly will be fine in their current roles, now that their friendship is over they can hopefully move on.

SOURCE: People, E! Online | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Instagram

Check out more Michael Strahan here:

Michael Strahan Says He Doesn’t Miss ‘Live’ In New Interview

Here’s How Michael Strahan Is Keeping Busy Since His Departure From ‘Kelly’

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