Kelly Ripa is letting it rip, all right.
With Michael Strahan's rushed exit from Live! With Kelly and Michael just days away, Ripa is opening up about the drama surrounding his transition to Good Morning America later this fall.
As E! News previously reported, Ripa was "livid" and blindsided when she was told Strahan would be leaving his post as co-host after just four years. "There's a part of me that can say, 'OK, I understand. This may have been an oversight.' And again, after 26 years, at this point we are like a family," Ripa, 45, now says in People's May 23 issue, on newsstands Friday. "And sometimes when you are so comfortable with somebody, you may not give them the same consideration as somebody you're not as comfortable with—a certain formality falls away."
"I think that all people are deserving of fair treatment in the work place," Ripa says of being kept in the dark. "People deserve respect. People should be treated equally and with dignity."
As Live! producers would undoubtedly agree, telling Ripa about Strahan's plans at the last minute was a mistake. "I think that requires a certain amount of empathy on a level. When you're dealing with big business, it's easy to forget that you're dealing with people and that people have feelings," Ripa says. "It's easy to just look at it like a business unit, a unit, a unit."
After news of Strahan's exit became public knowledge, Ripa called in sick and took a pre-scheduled vacation. She came back to the show Apr. 26 after Ana Gasteyer, Erin Andrews and Shay Mitchell had filled in for her. "I first want to honestly, sincerely thank you for welcoming me back to this show," Ripa told viewers upon her return. "The love, the show of support to this bizarre time has been really overwhelming. I really needed a couple of days to gather my thoughts. After 26 years with this company, I earned the right—and let's be honest, I know half of you called in sick to be here, so we get each other. In that time, I gained some perspective. I always speak from the heart. I didn't want to come out here and just, like, say something I might regret."
"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. "Since we're being honest, I don't consider this just a workplace. This is my second home. This is a place that I've devoted myself to, not just because of you, our loyal viewers, but because of all of the producers and the crew who work on this show. We have an incredible team. We are incredibly devoted to one another. We are family. 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."
Amid weeks of on-air and behind-the-scenes drama, Ripa now says she only wants the best for herself, Strahan, ABC and Live!. "I'm not dealing with monsters. I don't think of anybody as a monster or out to get me," she tells People. "But sometimes stability and dependability can be misinterpreted as passive. Like, 'Oh, we don't have to worry about her, she's fine. She's fine.'"
"And I am fine," she adds, "but I need assurances that we're all going to be fine."