Kelly Ripa Takes Day off from Live! After Michael Strahan Departure Announcement

Kelly Ripa did not appear on Wednesday's episode of Live! With Kelly and Michael – just one day after the announcement that her co-host Michael Strahan is leaving the talk show.

She was replaced by Ana Gasteyer, who came out with Strahan to a cheering crowd.

"Good morning, everybody. Kelly is off today," Strahan announced before noting that he's "been in the news lately."

"Yes, I am leaving this show," confirmed Strahan, who is ending his four-year run with Ripa on Live! to join Good Morning America as a full time co-anchor in September.



"I'm going to go over to GMA full time," Strahan added. "Which is going to happen in September. And it's the same channel!"

He also addressed some of the reactions over the announcement.

"I was reading some stuff and it was like I died!" he said incredulously.

"But I do want to say to all of our viewers out there … four years ago when I came here I'm sure they were surprised," he said, joking about being the guy with the "gap tooth."

"You still continue to give us our eyeballs and watch this show. Thank you guys. I couldn't have asked for better fans at all," he went on. "You guys are absolutely amazing."

Strahan, 44, also reassured viewers he's "not going anywhere."

"I'm always available to guest co-host because I consider myself to be a part of this family forever," he said.

"We've still got months to go," he added. "You better not start crying you're going to make me cry!"

The former NFL pro first joined the GMA team in 2014, appearing twice a week while co-hosting Live! at the same time.

Live! With Kelly and Michael airs weekdays (9 a.m. ET) on ABC.