Michael Strahan left Live With Kelly and Michael six years ago, and he joined Good Morning America with great public notice. Even now, the circumstances behind his leaving and the dispute with co-host Kelly Ripa continue to fascinate people. Not only was Strahan’s decision to depart surprising, but it was rather nasty. Originally supposed to leave three months later, he left sooner than expected, apparently surprising Ripa. Her reaction to the news was so strong that she took a week-long break from the program, which said volumes about her emotions on the subject.

Ripa answered her brief absence when she got back, but her remarks were measured and cautious. “I needed a few days to gather my thoughts; after 26 years with this company, I earned the right; I acknowledged the tension while keeping specifics vague,” she said to her audience. She said, “This started a much larger conversation about communication, and consideration, and most importantly respect in the workplace.” Apologies have come through. The harm looked permanent even with this public effort to repair fences. Strahan claims that following his leaving, their friendship never really healed. Actually, the two seldom talk at all these days.

Strahan considered the event in an interview with Time and recounted how it affected him. “I learnt through all that went down with that, you can’t convince people to like you,” he remarked. “I haven’t spoke to her in a long time.” According to his statements, any unsolved problems he had at the time of leave have lingered now.

The two have now continued with their individual professions. Together with Ryan Seacrest, who joined the program in 2017, Ripa still hosts Live with Kelly and Ryan. Strahan has meanwhile been a regular on Good Morning America, co-hosting the third hour alongside Sara Haines, which runs early afternoon. Both seem to have settled in, but for those who saw their time together on Live, the shadow of their difficult relationship still hangs huge.

During his time on the program, Strahan has hinted at behind-the-scenes difficulties, suggesting that more was going on than first would have been apparent. In a previous interview with Deadline, he said that his choice to depart was much influenced by these difficulties. “I stayed exactly the same Day 1 person I was. One thing I refuse to do is change my perspective for another’s. From Kelly, I picked up so much; from Michael Gelman, executive producer, so much more. It was time to head off when it came time. Some events occurring behind the scenes just caught up, he said. He avoided specifics, but his remarks suggest a workplace that might not have been as harmonic as it seemed on film.

Though there is conflict, Strahan has voiced some sorrow about the way the leaving went. Clearly, his relationship with Ripa was changed. Once comfortable on-screen friends, the two now have distinct professional lives with minimal to no contact. The circumstances in many respects mirror the complexity of corporate dynamics and the difficulties negotiating them under public view.

Fascinatingly, Strahan started talking more candidly about the aftermath just lately. His open comments have sparked public interest in the narrative once more and made fans question what actually went on behind-stage. Could the break have been managed differently? Was it inevitable?

Viewers wonder which show they would like most—Live with Kelly and Ryan or Good Morning America. And did you know that Strahan and Ripa had a really spectacular falling out? Although both of them have progressed professionally, their broken relationship reminds us of how difficultly even the most successful couples can overcome problems.