Kelly Ripa Back Tuesday After Tough Talk With Disney
Kelly Ripa Back Tuesday After Tough Talk With Disney
Kelly Ripa will be back Tuesday on 'Live' ... TMZ has learned ... this after her people jawboned it with Disney over the fate of her show and the tenure of her co-host.
Our ABC sources say Kelly's people made it clear she would come back if they could get assurance the show wasn't getting the ax. As we reported, ABC honchos are noodling whether to add a third hour of 'GMA,' which would displace 'Live.'
From what we can gather, the brass gave Kelly enough assurance to end her boycott. Based on what we know, even Disney doesn't know if they'll expand 'GMA.' A lot depends on morning show ratings and the performance of 'Live' over the next year.
Even if 'GMA' moves to 9 ... ABC could save 'Live' by moving it to 10 or 11 AM.
Our ABC sources say Kelly made it clear she'd be a happy camper if Michael Strahan leaves before his scheduled September departure. Our sources say both Kelly and Michael are extremely uncomfortable about sitting together under the circumstances, and they'd both like to stop the bleeding STAT.
As we reported, the 2 have not gotten along for 2 years ... various sources say they don't like each other.
We're told Kelly has a little more than a year left on her contract. Makes for good TV.