Michael Strahan Is Disappointed He Was Seen as the ‘Bad Guy’ in Kelly Ripa Drama

Five months after the drama over Michael Strahan leaving Live! With Kelly and Michael to become a co-host of Good Morning America, the former football star says he’s disappointed to have been “painted as the bad guy.”

In a cover story with People, Strahan opened up about the tension with Kelly Ripa, who publicly expressed her frustration at not being kept in the loop by ABC or her colleague. “I don’t want people to see me as ‘Oh, he just ran out, just left them there.’ That’s just not true,” Strahan says.

As for his relationship with Ripa, it isn’t exactly warm and fuzzy: “At one point I think we were friends,” he says. “I don’t know what happened at the end. I learned a lot from her, though.”

[People]