Ex-NFL star Strahan becomes Kelly Ripa's co-host

Charles Sykes

Michael Strahan, Kelly Ripa

Former football player Michael Strahan, right, greets Kelly Ripa on the set of the newly named "Live! with Kelly and Michael" on Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2012 in New York. Strahan joined the popular morning show as a permanent co-host on Tuesday, fulfilling a joking prophecy he made to Regis Philbin more than four years ago. The gap-toothed former New York Giant jogged onto the morning show set and picked up co-host Kelly Ripa in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet. He replaces Philbin, who left last November. Strahan was the survivor in a series of on-air tryouts of potential co-hosts since Philbin left, and his hiring has been an open secret for the past two weeks. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP Images)