Kelly Ripa Did NOT Ditch Robin Roberts' Wedding Over Feud With Former 'Live' Co-Host Michael Strahan: Source
Kelly Ripa was MIA at Robin Roberts' wedding due to ongoing tension with Michael Strahan, a new report claimed.
Kelly Ripa did not skip Robin Roberts' star-studded nuptials due to lingering animosity with her former Live co-host Michael Strahan — sources tell RadarOnline.com.
An insider denied a feud is still brewing between them, confirming "neither of them are avoiding each other" and "this is false," Daily Mail reported.
Ripa and Strahan worked alongside each other from 2012 to 2016 and did not have a falling out until after the NFL star-turned-TV personality announced he was leaving to go to Good Morning America.
Around 250 guests gathered to watch Roberts' nuptials.
"Even after all these years, she won't be anywhere near him," one source alleged in The Sun's original bombshell report.
Ripa was notably "blindsided" by Strahan's sudden departure seven years ago, finding out at the same time as the press did.
The Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories author was left astounded, noting she didn't "kick up a fuss" but was still taken aback by Strahan's shock exit, telling Variety, "If I'm not worthy of a discussion, if I'm not worthy of you running this conversation by me — it was outrageous."
"Even after all these years, she won't be anywhere near him," one source alleged about Strahan.
Strahan, for his part, admitted he wanted more than being a "sidekick" to Ripa. He also said he didn't go looking for the GMA job, but rather it was ABC execs who wanted to change shows, confessing in hindsight that he could have handled it better.
"I thought I was coming here to be a partner … When it was time to go, it was time to go," the famed defensive end explained. "Certain things that were going on behind the scenes just caught up."
Strahan said he still had the utmost respect for Ripa, explaining that he learned alongside her many of the lessons she was taught by the late Regis Philpin, including how to craft a story.
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Insiders close to Ripa denied her absence was due to Strahan.
"She's brilliant in that way. If people think, Oh, he hates her — I don't hate her," the ex-New York Giants star told the New York Times. "I cannot say enough about how good she is at her job."
Last week, Roberts tied the knot with longtime partner Amber Laign after 18 years together and Strahan was among the attendees.
A slew of ABC colleagues were there to watch the couple exchange vows at Farmington Gardens in Connecticut, but Ripa was thousands of miles away at another big event.
Ripa was attending an event in L.A. with husband Mark during the wedding.
"Kelly was with her husband in Los Angeles since Mark was the Grand Marshall for the Mexican Independence Day Parade on Sunday," an insider said in The Sun's report. "She couldn't be further away from Michael at Robin's wedding Saturday night in Connecticut."
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Another source, however, claimed Strahan and Ripa are "adults" and have attended the same events before, insisting tension between them was not the reason she didn't attend Roberts' wedding.
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