Michael Strahan got very candid about his past jobs in television and stated that with one of them he didn’t know he was “supposed to be a sidekick.”
“It was tougher in the TV business to see a certain kind of competitiveness than it was in sports,” the 48-year-old host of “Good Morning America” and former NFL football player shared with the New York Times. The interview was noted by Fox News in a piece published Tuesday. (RELATED: Michael Strahan Makes His First Post-‘Live’ Appearance On GMA)
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The former talk show host previously worked with Kelly Ripa on “Live! With Kelly and Michael” and, without naming his former co-host by name, he hinted that he didn’t feel like he was part of the team in previous TV gigs.
“I don’t want to be on the show and feel like everyone else is carrying me,” Strahan explained. “I want us all to be successful. I’ve done things where I went in with team concepts, and I got there and realized it’s not about team. It’s selfish, and I don’t operate well under that.”
“Then on television, I’ve had jobs where I got there and felt like: ‘Wow, I didn’t know I was supposed to be a sidekick,'” he added. “‘I thought I was coming here to be a partner.'”
When the former New York Giants player was pressed further on if his comments were a direct reference to his time on the show with Ripa he avoided answering directly, only saying that it was “an experience.”
The GMA host then disputed claims that his departure from the show four years ago was done behind Ripa’s back, as reports at the time indicated were her thoughts on his departure.
“I didn’t wake up and say, ‘I want a job at ‘GMA,'” Strahan shared “I was asked to do it by the people who run the network. It was really not a choice. It was a request. But it was treated as if I was the guy who walked in and said, ‘I’m leaving.'”
As far as his former co-host, he said he has holds no ill feelings towards the former soap opera star.
“I don’t hate her,” Michael shared. “I do respect her for what she can do at her job. I cannot say enough about how good she is at her job.”