We Finally Know Why Michael Strahan Was Absent From Good Morning America Recently

ABC

Michael Strahan's time on daytime television has faced some ups and downs over the years, but Good Morning America viewers had every reason to get used to seeing his face on a daily basis despite changes in 2020. The former football star and current Good Morning America host has been absent from the morning talk show all week, however, and now the reason for his absence is reportedly due to a positive COVID-19 test.

Michael Strahan is in quarantine following a positive test for COVID-19 after learning that he was exposed during the previous week, according to TMZ sources, which further state that his daughters were in contact with their father following his exposure and are being tested too. Jean, their mother, is being tested as well despite living apart from Strahan. Only Strahan himself is said to have gotten his results at the time of writing, with his daughters and their mom still waiting.

Although he has been missing from Good Morning America so far this week, he will reportedly appear during the broadcast on Thursday, January 28 to talk about his diagnosis, as he is seemingly not suffering the kind of severe symptoms that have taken other stars of the entertainment industry out of commission for quite some time. The news of his positive test comes after he appeared remotely for Fox NFL Sunday to comment on the NFC Championship over the weekend, when he would normally be in studio, albeit spaced from the others per COVID protocols.

Considering the NFL season is coming to an end with the Super Bowl on February 7, it should be interesting to see how much he contributes to Fox NFL Sunday. It's possible that his presumed appearance on Good Morning America will shed some light on what he has planned for Super Bowl Sunday as well as his future in the coming weeks on GMA. Strahan also isn't the only GMA host to be diagnosed with COVID over the past year.

As for how Michael Strahan is feeling, he posted a video of himself in his "man cave" four days ago that couldn't have been pre-recorded a long time beforehand:

A photo posted by on

This was posted before the NFL game on Sunday, so he could be feeling worse now than he did then, but he was clearly working even when quarantined at home. Hopefully Michael Strahan's recovery will be as easy as possible, even if he doesn't return to Good Morning America in the studio any time too soon. Updates on that front should be on the way in the not-too-distant future.

For now, you can find new episodes of Good Morning America without Michael Strahan daily on ABC at 7 a.m. ET. The show must go on, and Strahan's co-hosts in Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos should continue to deliver the GMA content while their colleague recovers. As for your primetime options if getting up to say good morning to America at 7 a.m. isn't your style, there are plenty of TV shows worth checking out and/or streaming at later hours.

Laura Hurley
Senior Content Producer

Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).