Michael Strahan Speaks out on His Controversial Exit From ‘Live! With Kelly and Michael’

Two years after his highly controversial exit from Live! With Kelly and Michael, Michael Strahan opened up about his decision to leave — and why he has no regrets about the way things played out with Kelly Ripa.

The 46-year-old former Super Bowl champion and Emmy-winner discussed on In Depth With Graham Bensinger his abrupt exit from Live! and his decision to join the cast of Good Morning America full time.

“There’s nothing I would have done differently,” he told the host. “I handled it as professional as you can handle it and I have been a professional from day one there to the last day I left.”

“I had the opportunity to do something that most people don’t — I got a chance to evolve; to do different, creative things,” he added of his start on daytime television.

Strahan announced in 2016 that he was leaving Live! after four years of co-hosting alongside Kelly Ripa, who is in her 17th year as host.

In a controversial twist, Ripa only learned about Strahan’s choice to leave minutes before it was announced on air. This reportedly caused friction on the set and between the former friends, prompting Ripa to take a few days off immediately following the news. Eventually she returned to her position and Ryan Seacrest was tapped to take over the role.

Strahan moved on to become a host of Good Morning America almost immediately after his swift exit, but more than two years later, he admittedly grows frustrated when people interrogate him on why he switched positions.

“A lot of people think, ‘Oh why would he leave?’…I don’t wanna do that forever! No! People get so complacent. It makes me sick that someone [says], ‘You got a good job, you just got to keep it,’” he argued.

In the same interview, the father of four noted his post-football career run on television will not last forever. Strahan revealed that his goal is to retire once his daughters — Isabella and Sophia, now 13 — are in college so that he can spend time relaxing with a free schedule for his family. He is also father to Tanita, 25, and Michael Jr., 20.

Strahan’s full interview debuts this weekend on the nationally-syndicated TV show, In Depth with Graham Bensinger.