Michael Strahan's 4 Kids: Everything to Know
Michael Strahan Instagram
Fans know Michael Strahan as both an all-star NFL player and a television personality, but his most important role is being a dedicated dad to his four kids: Tanita, Michael Jr., Isabella and Sophia.
Strahan had his two older children, Tanita and Michael Jr., with his first wife Wanda Hutchins, before welcoming twins Isabella and Sophia with his second wife, Jean Muggli. While Strahan occasionally shares photos of his kids on social media, he keeps his family life relatively private.
Still, Strahan has proudly talked about how much he loves being a dad. In 2016, Strahan told PEOPLE how he makes his blended family work. "My kids give me strength," he said. "I love being with the kids. To me it's all about family, now more than anything."
Although Tanita and Michael Jr. grew up in a different household than Sophia and Isabella, Strahan said that all four kids have become "very close" over the years. "You worry how the kids will mix and blend, but brothers and sisters are brothers and sisters regardless of different mothers," he added.
Strahan also told PEOPLE about how his kids are his reminder to always have a good time. "Sometimes life gets serious for us as adults, but looking at my kids, it lets me know that you're allowed to have fun — you're allowed to have mindless fun," he said. "And you're allowed to be yourself and act like no one is watching. I think that is the most valuable lesson that I've learned from them. They keep on teaching me every day, so I'm always willing to learn."
Michael Strahan Instagram
Strahan has made it clear that being a father is a huge part of his identity. In 2017, he received a Father of the Year Award from The National Father's Day Committee. He told PEOPLE of the honor: "I love being a father. It's absolutely the most joy you're going to have in your life. It's also the most stress you're going to have."
Here's everything to know about Michael Strahan's four kids: Tanita, Michael Jr., Isabella and Sophia.
Tanita Strahan, 31
Tanita Strahan Instagram
Strahan and his first wife, Wanda Hutchins, welcomed daughter Tanita Strahan on Nov. 10, 1991, in Germany. She lived in Houston until Strahan and Hutchins divorced, at which point she and her younger brother Michael Jr. moved to Germany with their mother.
In 2016, Tanita shared that growing up in Germany kept her grounded. "I've never been the type of person to be starstruck," she told PEOPLE. "Growing up in Germany, no one cared about stuff like that."
Tanita eventually moved back to the U.S. and attended high school in Houston. After graduating, she received a degree in design and visual communication from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles. She later moved back to Texas to study art.
On her website, Tanita described herself as an illustrator and a visual artist living in L.A. She works with mediums such as acrylic, watercolor, ink, graphic design and photography.
Speaking to New York Family in 2013, Strahan opened up about his family, including Tanita. "She's kind of like me in the sense that she has a very strong personality, but a silent strong personality," he said of his oldest daughter. "She's not going to be one to walk into a room and make it all about her. She definitely has an opinion and she's very smart and she knows what she wants, which I love about her."
Tanita's Instagram mostly features photos of her artwork, such as paintings and videos of her process, as well as her cats and dogs.
Michael Strahan Jr., 28
Michael Strahan Instagram
Michael Anthony Strahan Jr. is Strahan's only son, whom he welcomed with Hutchins on Sept. 12, 1994.
Like his sister Tanita, Michael Jr. was raised in Germany with his mother until he was 11, when he moved back to Houston. His time in the country meant so much to him that he tattooed the country's eagle on his arm. In 2016, he told PEOPLE he was "fluent but rusty" in the German language.
Strahan spoke to PEOPLE about what it was like to raise his kids with his ex-wife while they lived in another country. "I think a lot of times when you split, people assume that the mother is supposed to take responsibility for the kids," he said. "But from day one, it was very important for me to be active, to be a part of their life. I was constantly on planes and phones. And it's very hard — of course it's hard with them being in Germany. But one thing I learned is, you make time for what you want to make time for."
After high school, Michael Jr. went to the University of Texas at San Antonio and later moved to New York.
Strahan also spoke about Michael Jr. to New York Family in 2013, saying: "He's funny. He just got his car about two weeks ago, and he washes it and takes care of it every day. He's a very particular young man. He's very smart too. He likes to say to me, 'Dad, you're smart, but you cannot challenge me in the fields of math and science.' "
Michael Jr. is the most private of Strahan's four kids; his Instagram page only has a few photos. In August 2018, he appeared on Good Morning America alongside his father, which he cheekily referred to as his "15 minutes of fame" on Instagram.
Isabella Strahan, 19
Isabella Strahan Instagram
Strahan had his two younger daughters with his second wife, Jean Muggli. Isabella Strahan was born on Oct. 28, 2004, along with her twin sister Sophia.
Isabella grew up splitting her time between North Carolina and North Dakota. In 2016, Strahan told PEOPLE: "The twins live a crazy life. One time they flew out to D.C. and interviewed the First Lady for GMA. Then the next day their mom was sending me a video of them riding horses and splashing around in a muddy corn field."
Speaking to New York Family, Strahan described Isabella as the calmer twin. "I'd say she's more playful, very chill, never gets very upset or fired up. She's very 'it is what it is,' " he described.
Isabella attended high school in N.Y.C., where she played volleyball and rode horses in her free time. She was also committed to her studies — in 2021, the Brooklyn Public Library named Isabella a winner of a New York City History Day Award for a website she created about the last American slave ship.
After graduating, Isabella launched her modeling career, making her runway debut at the Sherri Hill fashion show in April 2022. Strahan was there to cheer his daughter on for her big moment, and posted a series of photos from the event on Instagram.
"Very proud of you, @isabellastrahan for crushing your first runway this weekend for @sherrihill!," Strahan wrote alongside a photo of the two of them at the show. "As a parent, there is nothing like watching your child succeed at what they love with a smile on their face! #ProudDad #GirlDad."
Isabella is currently signed with the agency Women 360 in N.Y.C., according to her Instagram. Though the 19-year-old only posts occasionally on the app, the photos she does share are often from her travels and adventures with friends.
Sophia Strahan, 19
Sophia Strahan Instagram
Like her twin sister, Sophia Strahan was born to Strahan and Muggli on Oct. 28, 2004.
Strahan has talked about making time to see Sophia and Isabella while they were growing up. "When you're a single father with 4-month-old kids, and you gotta be with them all the time, it taught me that there's nothing to be afraid of," he told PEOPLE in 2016. "I can do it. I look back on that as one of the most fulfilling times of my life. And I look at my kids now and it makes me happy because I know it paid off in my relationship with them."
Speaking to New York Family in 2013, Strahan said Sophia was "always asking questions, very curious." Describing both of his twin daughters, he added: "They're both very smart; they love to read all these things I never thought of reading when I was 7 or 8 years old. And they do it because they're generally interested in it, which is amazing to me."
Sophia is also an equestrian, having partially grown up on her mother's property in Wilmington, North Carolina, according to The Carolinas Equestrian. Both twins have been competitive horse riders, taking home blue ribbons from several East Coast horse shows. Sophia has also shared several Instagram photos of her with a horse named Zeus.
Like Isabella, Sophia also played volleyball as a student before graduating high school in N.Y.C. In 2022, Sophia announced her higher education plans on Instagram, revealing that she was enrolling at Duke University as part of the class of 2027.
In December 2022, Strahan opened up about his girls growing up and starting the next chapter of their lives. "I cannot wait for them to go to [college], but it's actually a bittersweet thing," he told Yahoo. "The bitter part is, of course, I'm gonna miss my kids when they're gone. But the sweet part is that they get a chance to grow and become adults."
He added that it was important for him to give his daughters space. "Kids need their own identity, their own space to grow, so that's what I'm giving my girls."
