Kelly Ripa to return to Live! after drama

Kelly Ripa is to return to Live! With Kelly And Michael after co-host Michael Strahan announced he was leaving the daytime show.

The 45-year-old is said to have complained that she felt "blindsided" by Michael's announcement on Tuesday that he would be leaving the show in September (16) to join ABC series Good Morning America.

Kelly was apparently furious that she wasn't given a heads up about her co-host's career move, and found out at the same time as everyone else. After hearing the news, she took an unplanned day off on Wednesday (20Apr16), with Ana Gasteyer drafted in as a last minute replacement for Kelly's morning slot.

The presenter jetted off to the Turks and Caicos Islands on Thursday morning (21Apr16) for a planned getaway to celebrate her 20-year wedding anniversary with husband mark Consuelos and their three children, Michael, Lola Grace and Joaquin.

But now Kelly has confirmed she will return to the show on Tuesday (26Apr16), according to People.com.

The outlet reports that Kelly sent an email to her staff late Friday night (22Apr16) saying, "Sorry for this late Friday night email. I wanted to thank you all for giving me the time to process this new information. Your kindness, support, and love has overwhelmed me.

"We are a family and I look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday morning. Love, Kelly."

Michael has reportedly reached out to Kelly several times since the announcement on Tuesday, but the pair have so far yet to reconcile. Despite the breakdown of the on-screen relationship between the pair, Michael still took a moment to thank an absent Kelly on Wednesday.

"I really want to thank, of course, Kelly Ripa," he said during the Live! show. "Kelly welcomed me here, and I've learned so much from here. Kelly, I thank you. I love you and everyone else here at Live!"