ABC; NBCKelly Ripa and Michael Strahan have gotten some earnest and somewhat stern advice from a woman who had done their job for a very long time: Kathie Lee Gifford.
Ripa and Strahan have been making headlines since it was announced Tuesday he is set to leave Live! With Kelly & Michael after four years to join Good Morning America full-time. ABC executives told Ripa about the plan hours before the public was informed and she was "livid" about being kept in the dark, staying away from the show for four weekdays. Ripa and Strahan reunited on the air Tuesday and it has seemingly been business as usual ever since.
Gifford, who has co-hosted the fourth hour of NBC's Today show since 2008, co-hosted Live! With Regis & Kelly with Regis Philbin for about 12 years before she left the show in 2000. She was asked about her advice to Ripa and Strahan in an interview with FOX411 this week.
"Be totally professional," Gifford said. "I would keep anything that is going on between you private. Private. It's nobody's business but yours. But always, always be professional at your job. That's what you're hired to do."
Ahead of Tuesday's reunion with Strahan, Ripa reportedly received an apology from executives, who "expressed regret for the way Kelly was told the news." During her first Live! taping since the shakeup, Ripa said, "I really needed a couple of days to gather my thoughts."
"What transpired, though, over the course of a few days has been extraordinary in the sense that it started a much greater conversation about communication and consideration and, most importantly, respect in the workplace," she said. "Apologizes have been made and the best thing to come out of all of this, you guys, is that our parent company has assured me that Live! is a priority."
She also said she was "thrilled" for Strahan, saying, "I am thrilled for you. This is a tremendous opportunity and I couldn't be—and we couldn't be—prouder of you and everything we have accomplished together."
Scandal actress Bellamy Young, who had appeared on Live! on Ripa's first day back since the shakeup, had told E! News "there was tension in the backstage area because yeah, it's been a week of drama unfolding nationally."
"But I have to say, they were such professionals and it all went so smoothly and she gave a beautiful monologue," she added.
Ripa joined Live! as Philbin's new co-host a year after Gifford departed from the series. He left the show in 2011 and had told Ripa just 20 minutes before a taping that he was going to announce his departure.
Strahan originally said he would continue to co-host Live! until September. However, ABC announced Tuesday his last day would be in a couple of weeks. The network is expected to find Ripa a new co-host. Strahan was one of several dozen celebs who had guest-co-hosted Live! before he was chosen and fans speculate one of the others will be picked to replace him. ABC has not commented.
(E! and NBC are part of the NBCUniversal family.)