Former NFL player Michael Strahan joined Kelly Ripa for his debut episode of “Live with Kelly and Michael” on Tuesday. Strahan landed Regis Philbin’s old job after the show auditioned 59 potential co-hosts over the course of 291 days.


“When I came to co-host, I didn’t do it to say I’m coming for the job,” Michael explained. “I did it because it was fun and after the first time, I was like, ‘I can do better’ and I wanted to do better. I’m competitive. Eventually, I came on and was comfortable and couldn’t wait to get on the show.”
Kelly said of her new co-host, “Daddy’s home. What set Michael apart form everyone else in the process is… he talks to the audience during the commercial breaks. He goes out there and talks to everyone, he’s a regular member of the family, and that’s very important to us.”