Michael Strahan officially joins Kelly Ripa as co-host of ‘Live!’

September 4, 2012 - 8:30 pm | Category: Entertainment

It’s official — ex-NFL star Michael Strahan is Kelly Ripa’s new co-host on Live!

After months of speculation — and two years since Regis Philbin’s retirement — Strahan was took the co-host’s chair this morning. The show has been re-named Live! With Kelly and Michael.

Strahan was one of 59 guest co-hosts who auditioned for the part. He’d guest-hosted more than 20 times, and was reported to be the front-runner a few weeks ago when he was spotted leaving Live!’s New York studio with a big smile on his face.