Names and faces

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Posted: September 5, 2012 at 5:56 a.m.

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The only worry on Michael Strahan ’s mind when he made his entrance Tuesday as the new co-host of Live!: “Don’t trip,” he summed up after the show. He didn’t. When Kelly Ripa introduced him, the gaptoothed former football player jogged onto the morning show set and gathered her up in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet. “When I was hugging Kelly, that’s when I was calming down,” Strahan said. The rest of the hour was clearly a snap for him and for Ripa, who was getting a permanent show partner nine months after Regis Philbin retired and after having welcomed Strahan and 58 other guests in the chair beside her. Taking his seat Tuesday, the former New York Giant joked that it felt “comfy, like it was molded for my body.” Strahan was relaxed, amiable and playful, and drew “ahhhs” from women in the studio audience when he presented Ripa with a dozen red roses. “It’s so nice to have a co-host literally sweep you off your feet,” Ripa told viewers, “and I know that he can bench press me if he wanted to.” Strahan’s

Front Section, Pages 2 on 09/05/2012

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