NEW YORK – Ex-NFL player Michael
Strahan was officially welcomed Tuesday as Kelly
Ripa's new co-host (and Regis
Philbin's permanent replacement) following nine months of on-air.
But what made this pairing the best match? Among 59
substitutes — some auditioners, others just filling in for fun — "there was
definitely something special" in their chemistry, says Michael
Gelman, executive producer of the newly retitled Live With Kelly and
Michael. "They're able to have this fun, and they have a shorthand together,
and it just works," he says. "Having him come back all these times made it
easier."
She warmly embraced Strahan after introducing him amid
balloons and confetti on Tuesday: "Now it's time for the new era of our show to
begin." And she said of her 6-foot-5 partner, "It's so nice to have a co-host
who can literally sweep you off your feet." (He did.)
BLOG: 'Time
for a new era'
In a news conference that followed, Ripa said the
camaraderie is "spontaneous," adding "we have similar senses of humor."
Strahan says the chemistry is genuine: "You can't get on
live TV every morning and fool people. We're two people who can laugh at
themselves and laugh at each other." The show's formula won't change, though
Gelman says he "can't wait" to feature Strahan in the syndicated show's annual
Halloween costume party.
Strahan, 40, brought along his fiancee, Nicole Murphy
(Eddie's ex), and says the welcome "was a little overwhelming for about 10
seconds. And then when I was hugging Kelly, that's when I was calming down."
Though it was one of summer's worst-kept secrets, Strahan's
selection a few weeks back prompted congratulatory messages, including some from
other candidates, all of which went unanswered. "I didn't want to be the squeaky
wheel, so I just ignored everything," Ripa says, adding that she stopped
tweeting a month ago.
He'll continue to be a host of Fox NFL
Sunday, commuting to Los
Angeles on fall weekends, then return to New
York to be with his "new TV wife."
Strahan has co-hosted the show 20 times, most of them since
Philbin left last November, and was shown in a clip from a guest appearance in
February 2008, just after his New
York Giants won the Super
Bowl, saying he might someday like to replace Philbin. "I was joking!" he
says now. "It was like a prophesy," Ripa told viewers.
But Ripa says she mostly enjoyed the tryouts (except for
one co-host she wouldn't name) and says it "reminded me so much" of her own
on-air tryout as a replacement for Kathie
Lee Gifford. "I was having so many flashbacks of my life 12 years ago."
Strahan is no stranger to television. In addition to his
Fox duties, he starred in Brothers, a short-lived 2009 sitcom on that
network, and has hosted cable reality shows. Was his appeal to male sports fans
a factor in his selection? "It wasn't the reason we picked him," Gelman says,
"but it could really help with that."
Tuesday's welcome show had its typical mix of host chat,
celebrities (Homeland's Claire Danes), performance (American
Idol winner Phillip Phillips) and two members of the winning U.S.
Olympic gymnastics team, who paired up with a track-suit clad Ripa and Strahan
in a balance-beam competition. (They tied.)
