Kelly Ripa to Be Off 'Live' Through Monday
Live With Kelly and Michael’s Kelly Ripa will be out through at least Monday on what a spokeswoman for the show says is a previously scheduled vacation.
Dancing With the Stars’ cohost Erin Andrews will join Michael Strahan live on Thursday as well as tape Friday’s show, while Pretty Little Liars’ Shay Mitchell will cohost on Monday. Both Andrews and Mitchell come from within the Disney-ABC family, with DWTS airing on ABC and Pretty Little Liars airing on Disney millennial-targeted cable network Freeform.
Related: Kelly Ripa Takes Day Off as Michael Strahan Announces His Exit
Ripa’s extended absence comes in the midst of reports that she’s upset that she wasn’t adequately prepared for the news that Strahan was leaving to go to Good Morning America full-time in September.
Ripa was noticeably absent on Wednesday, when Strahan made his announcement on the show. Former SNL star Ana Gasteyer filled in.
Related: Michael Strahan Leaving 'Live' for 'Good Morning America'
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Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.