Kelly Ripa Gets Candid About 'Live!' Drama With Michael Strahan - Closer Weekly

Kelly Ripa is speaking out about her Live! drama with Michael Strahan.

“I think that all people are deserving of fair treatment in the work place. People deserve respect,” Kelly told People in a new interview. “People should be treated equally and with dignity.”

“I think that requires a certain amount of empathy on a level. When you’re dealing with big business, it’s easy to forget that you’re dealing with people and that people have feelings. It’s easy to just look at it like a business unit, a unit, a unit,” she continued.

Kelly and Michael in 2012.

“There’s a part of me that can say, ‘Okay, I understand. This may have been an oversight,'” Kelly shared. “And again, after 26 years, at this point we are like a family. And sometimes when you are so comfortable with somebody, you may not give them the same consideration as somebody you’re not as comfortable with — a certain formality falls away.”

Though Michael is leaving Live! on Friday, May 13 after sitting beside Kelly for almost four years on the show, she’s decided to look past their drama and wish Michael nothing but good luck with his new gig at Good Morning America.

Kelly and Michael on Live!

“I get it. We’re excited for Michael. He wanted that job, and it’s great for him. I think it is a perfect match, I really do,” she admitted. “However, what nobody considered is there’s a whole other group of people that it really impacts, because we have to now find another great person.”

“People make mistakes, and we’re all human,” Kelly added. “They’re human and I’m human. We all have these moments, and it’s about how you move forward and how you begin again.”

Click through the gallery below to see who we think should replace Michael on the Live!

Jerry O'Connell

"I would do anything Kelly asked me, legal or illegal," the Stand by Me star told Closer Weekly in an exclusive interview. "I would do illegal things for Kelly that's how much I love her."

"I will tell you I have no idea what they're doing over there on that show, but I will say I will help out Kelly anyway I can. She is the best," Jerry continued.

Anderson Cooper

"He's my life. He really is," she said. "He's the one that got away and keeps getting away and gets away all the time."

Anderson also confessed it would be a dream of his to work with Kelly.

"Listen I love Kelly, and Kelly is the heart and soul of that show. It's gonna go on and continue to be great, and I wish Michael the best in his new endeavor. It would be a dream to work with Kelly, but nobody's offering anything," he said.

Neil Patrick Harris

"The fun thing about Kelly is that you get to show up at 8:30 am, be on TV at 9, shoot the breeze, meet some fun people and then you're out by 10:07," the dad-of-two explained. "So it's a nice gig, but I wouldn't want to do it all year long."

Regis Philbin

Because who wouldn't love to relive the old days? The two previously co-hosted Live! together from 2001 until 2011.

“[Regis] has already been approached. It’s been a bunch of phone tag back and forth. It’s in the very early stages,” a source told Page Six.

"[Everyone seems] game for trying to get him back. I think he’d have to look at the deal, but he was into it. He was totally positive," the insider continued.

Rob Lowe

"[When] I hosted Live with Kelly_, [I] had the time of my life," Rob recently revealed. "I love her. I love being able to talk to an audience every morning like that and just being fun, counter-punching, being silly, and talking about cool stuff."

"My kids are out of the house, they weren't then. Who knows. But listen, man, I don't want to go up against Anderson Cooper," he joked. "I don't know if I'm going to go back as an actual guest host yet. You never know! You never know."

"People Deserve Respect"Kelly Ripa Gets Candid About ‘Live!’ Drama With Michael Strahan

Jerry O'Connell

Anderson Cooper

Taye Diggs

Andy Cohen

Mario Lopez

Derek Hough

Mark Consuelos

Neil Patrick Harris

Josh Groban

Regis Philbin

Rob Lowe

The End!