Michael Strahan: Divorce is 'Hell'
Television host Michael Strahan may greet his fans with a huge smile, but it wasn't very long ago that he stopped smiling for quite some time. Strahan went through a painful divorce eight years ago and was accused of abuse, infidelity, and neglecting his twin daughters.
"The worst of it?" Strahan told Bryant Gumbel at the time. "I think early on when you're reading all these things in the paper that aren't true – I'm not an adulterer. I'm not gay. I mean, I didn't beat anybody."
Strahan's ex-wife Jean Muggli made the accusations that eventually led to the divorce. He claimed that Muggli had withdrawn $3.3 million from their bank accounts; Muggli was awarded $15 million in the divorce settlement and $18,000 in monthly child support.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Strahan finally found peace after the divorce, but that did not make the whole experience any easier.
"When you get divorced, people get upset, angry, and say crazy things. You have to take it," he told Ebony magazine in a new interview. "But it wasn't easy. It was hard as hell."
He is currently engaged to Nicole Murphy, who has been through her own divorce from actor Eddie Murphy. The couple dealt with the aftermath of Strahan's divorce and believe that it has made them stronger in their own relationship.
"For us, it's key that we maintain normalcy. We have a great life. People can buy into their own celebrity, and that's a dangerous thing," Strahan said.
He successfully transitioned from playing in the NFL to a daytime talk show host and has become a prominent personality. Strahan and co-star Kelly Ripa have a good relationship both on and off-screen. They have become friends and relate to each other quite well on TV, making their morning talk show a hit.
"Everybody has their own problems," he said back in 2006. "I just keep on being myself, and it worked."
