Kelly Ripa Kicks Off First Show Sans Michael Strahan—and Jimmy Kimmel Asks the Awkward Questions We Want Answered

The Live! host starts her first day on the show without her former co-host

Like the old adage goes, the show must go on—and it did with a new title and a new co-host. 

Bright and early Monday morning, Kelly Ripa officially launched her solo hosting streak without Michael Strahan, turning a fresh page on the weeks-long daytime saga. Redesigned with a fresh title,  a new logo and a recut show intro that washed away any remnants of the former football pro, Live! With Kelly debuted with a special guest co-host. 

"As is tradition, whenever we relaunch the show, my first co-host is Jimmy Kimmel," Ripa shared with the audience. 

However, the late-night host didn't waste any time making the final jokes at the expense of the full-time Good Morning America co-host. 

"Where's Michael?" Kimmel quipped while getting comfortable in his chair. 

"You don't read newspapers—I forgot," Ripa joked back.  

All in all, Kimmel kept their early morning banter light-hearted—and a bit PG-13 rated—as they eased into the show together. 

"I'm like an ex-boyfriend you go back to for sex after you break up with the last one," he teased Ripa. 

Kimmel kept the jokes coming, next referencing a list of awkward questions Howard Stern allegedly gave him to ask once he arrived on set. 

"Gelman, will you ever talk to Michael Strahan again?" Kimmel asked Michael Gelman, the executive producer. 

"I'm sure I will. You bet," he said with a nod. 

"Will he be back on the show as a guest," Kimmel continued. 

"At some point, it's possible," Gelman responded diplomatically.  Next, it was time for Ripa's turn in the hot seat.

"Was that genuine hugging and kissing?" Kimmel pried. 

"We don't fake hug and kiss," she answered. "It wasn't like air kissing. It was like a genuine 'I'm going to miss you,' 'Good luck'"

Strahan isn't the only one in need of a little luck as he prepares for his new post at Good Morning America in the fall. Now that the countdown has officially begun to find his replacement, some luck wouldn't hurt Ripa and the team at Live! as they search for her perfect right-hand man.

"I like having a partner," she recently told People. "I don't think it works otherwise. I need someone sitting next to me."