Kelly Ripa: Michael Strahan named co-host on Live! With Kelly

Former football star Michael Strahan is getting a permanent job in morning television as Kelly Ripa's co-host.

Strahan replaces Regis Philbin on the syndicated "Live! With Kelly" show, adding his name to the title. The gap-toothed former New York Giant is currently a host of "Fox NFL Sunday."

Ripa announced it this morning, with Strahan jogging in and picking his co-host up in a bear hug.

At one point, "SNL" star Seth Meyers was said to be in the lead, along with Strahan and Josh Groban, but Meyers quickly swatted away that gossip.

According to USA Today, Strahan is one of 59 co-hosts who were given a test run in the months following Philbin's departure. The football great is expected to continue to work as a co-host on Fox's "NFL Sunday," flying out to Los Angeles on the weekends.

In May, Strahan told "Showbiz Tonight" that he didn't view the open gig with "Live!" as "replacing Regis [Philbin.]"

"If you put it in that aspect, it's just too big," he said. "I just look at it as an opportunity to go on TV and tell stories and have fun and entertain myself and other people, and not look at the big magnitude and scope of it. ... I think the show fits my personality."

The Associated Press and CNN's Breeanna Hare and Jane Caffrey contributed to this report.