The few minutes of their talk show where Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan engage in the “host chat” segment about the day’s hot stories should be particularly interesting on Tuesday — Ripa’s first day back after learning Strahan is leaving.
Ripa has been off Live with Kelly and Michael for four days after the news broke last Tuesday that Strahan will leave to join Good Morning America full-time. Friday and Monday’s absence were for a pre-planned vacation.
She hasn’t addressed her absence, which came after she was told shortly after Tuesday’s show about Strahan’s switch. But she’s also made no effort to refute stories that she was angry and felt blindsided about the move, which will force her this autumn to likely spend months conducting on-air tryouts with potential successors.
Ripa alerted staff members of her return in an email sent late on Friday.
At least until it was overshadowed by Prince’s death, Ripa’s absence was a hot news topic, with debates raging about whether Walt Disney Corp officials were being sexist by engineering the change without Ripa’s participation, or whether Ripa had responded to it appropriately.
It becomes very emotional for any employee if they believe their trust in their employers has been violated, said Paul Tesluk, acting dean of the school of management at the University of Buffalo.
“The professional thing is to go back to the show and have these side discussions as quickly as you can and as professionally as you can,” Tesluk said.
Strahan, a former football player with the New York Giants, replaced Regis Philbin as host of Live in 2012. Ripa has been on the show since 2001.
