Michael Strahan Talks Leaving Live! and Loving ''Spontaneity and Uncertainty''

"Not knowing what's going to happen from second to second keeps you very present."

By Bruna Nessif May 20, 2016 2:10 AMTags
Kelly Ripa, Michael Strahan, LIVE with Kelly and MichaelABC

Michael Strahan may have started a new gig, but Live! will always have a special place in his heart.

Aside from looking dapper as ever for DuJour magazine, the daytime show host opened up about his highly publicized departure from Live! with Kelly Ripa and his move to Good Morning America. "I'm looking forward to moving to Good Morning America full-time, but I loved being at Live," he said. "It's a great show, great people and I'm very fortunate to have been a part of it."

Strahan also explained his love for live television, saying that the surprises along the way are what keep him in the moment. "I love spontaneity and uncertainty," he said of performing live, a skill he compares to a conductor directing an orchestra. "Not knowing what's going to happen from second to second keeps you very present."

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Michael Strahan Makes First Good Morning America Appearance Since Leaving Live!

In fact, that's a skill Michael Gelman, executive producer of Live, picked up on early on. "Michael has charisma, a big, warm, playful personality, and has the rare ability to be himself on camera," Gelman said. "But he also has that special hard-to-define quality, that ‘x-factor' that makes him stand out."

The former NFL pro made his full-time GMA debut on Tuesday, and he didn't talk about his final Live! episode. Instead, Strahan chose to focus on the news at hand. He and his morning show co-hosts kicked off the day by talking about Ginger Zee moving onto the finals of Dancing With the Stars, and eventually Strahan introduced a segment about Tiger Woods, solidifying himself as the go-to sports guy.

Chrissy Teigen also appeared on this morning's GMA, where she sat down with Strahan to discuss baby Luna, motherhood and, of course, food.

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