Michael Strahan Breaks Silence on Tooth Gap Prank Backlash

Michael Strahan had everyone fooled when he pulled off the tooth gap prank for April Fools Day. However, he didn’t think the prank would get as big as it did as fans were not happy he apparently eliminated the famous gap. The former New York Giants defensive end and Good Morning America co-host recently appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and opened up about the prank.

“I see that your teeth are still the same,” DeGeneres joked on the April 26 episode of the daytime talk show, as reported by E! News. “This prank, people really believed. You said you fixed your teeth and you posted a picture and people went crazy.” Strahan thought the outrage was very funny.

“I truly did not think people cared that much about my teeth,” Strahan chuckled. “I just did it as a little prank thinking a few of my Instagram followers were going to go, ‘Oh he’s crazy.’ They would know it was fake.” He went on to reveal that the joke impacted his vacation. “I ruined part of my vacation because I was on spring break with the kids and my phone just blows up: 700 text messages, 400 emails and then I got everybody trying to FaceTime me to see,” Strahan explained. “I just ignored everybody. I’m here to report that it was a report. People still think it’s real!”

Strahan posted a video of him sitting in a dentist chair getting new teeth without the gap right before April Fools’ Day. Some speculated that it was a joke, and on the following day, Strahan revealed that the procedure was all a hoax.

“I didn’t know so many people really cared,” Strahan said in an Instagram video. “But I appreciate all the love for the gap. I’ve had it for almost 50 years now, and a lot of people out there would always say, ‘Yeah you make me feel good about rocking mine,’” adding, “I know it was a shocker to see it gone.”

Strahan continued: “Be you. Live the way you wanna live. Do what makes you happy, because I did and I am happy that I did it,” he said, before his big reveal. “So, I just wanted to say… April Fools! Come on, man! The gap is here to stay—for a little while. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”