There's no denying it: Michael Strahan's exit from Live! With Kelly and Michael was quite dramatic, to say the least.
In fact, it led Kelly Ripa to boycotting her own show for a little while and even resulted in some pretty awkward on-camera moments between the two.
Though Strahan has officially settled into his new role on Good Morning America this month and Ripa is actively and excitedly looking for a new co-host, the exit is still cringe-worthy—especially for President of the Disney/ABC Television Group, Ben Sherwood.
The ABC boss sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter and was open in admitting there were "mistakes" made during Strahan's exit.
"I have most definitely thought about it, and I think that enough has been said about it," he laughed. "We made some mistakes, we fixed them quickly and we moved on."
In fact, he said he visited Ripa on the show recently and things felt positive.
"I was on the set of Live recently," he continued. "The show is in great shape, Kelly is in a great place, the hunt for a new co-host is underway, the excitement is building, and I believe the future of that show is bright."
Meanwhile, just last week, Live! teased the show might be closer to finally finding a replacement for Strahan. But unfortunately, that's exactly all it ended up being: a tease.
After a summer full of guest hosts, Ripa declared there was a "big announcement" about to take place during the first week of the show's new season (during the first week of September). We immediately assumed one of the repeat trial co-hosts—like Anderson Cooper or Jerry O'Connell—was about to take over the coveted seat. However, just as we feared, the announcement was too good to be true.
Instead, toward the end of Wednesday's segment last week, Ripa revealed that the show is going to open its doors to a lucky fan who will be able to try their hand at hosting for the day. "Now you have the chance to prove it," Ripa said in response to claims that her job is easy.
Daytime talk show hopefuls have until Sept. 20 to apply online for the spot.