Why Michael Strahan is absent from GMA again — and it involves his ex-wife and daughter

Good Morning America viewers were left miffed once more this week when their adored Michael Strahan was missing from the show. 

The jovial star hasn't been alongside Robert Roberts and George Stephanopolous for several days and now we know why. 

After a summer of fun with his daughters, Isabella and Sophia, which included a lengthy vacation in the Bahamas, it's back to college they go. 

Isabella revealed she had returned to USC on Instagram with a snapshot alongside her mom Jean Muggli. 

And Sophia will also be headed back to college at Duke with her fall semester kicking off August 26.

It's unclear if Michael and Jean reunited for both send offs but or if he took Sophia while she accompanied Isabella. 

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It is a big moment for the entire family as it has been a tumultuous nine months following Isabella's brain tumor diagnosis in October 2023. 

She's since completed treatment and made a recovery but it has been a rollercoaster for the twins, their mom and their dad. 

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Michael and Jean have been divorced since a year after welcoming their daughters.

Sadly, they fought bitterly over custody of their girls for a long time. 

Michael — who also has two grown children with his first ex-wife, Wanda Hutchins — opened up about marriage in a 2023 interview on In Depth with Graham Bensinger.

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"Would I ever get married again," he pondered.  "Never say never. I'm not so bitter to say , 'Oh, I got divorced and stay away from marriage'. I'm not the guy."

Michael was married to Jean from 1999 to 2006.

"My second marriage was definitely not the greatest experience," Michael confessed. "But I did learn a lot from that and I ended up with two incredible teenagers."

He surprisingly then added: "I think marriage is great, and I know I have had a few failures. But you learn from your failures."

Michael is still incredibly close with Wanda and recognizes it was just the wrong time for them. 

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"My first marriage with Wanda, we were just young. She's one one of my best friends to this day. I love her to death. I have two great kids," he said. 

"That was a great experience where we both realized we were young, out of our league, didn't know how we were supposed to act. We were kids trying to play adults. 

"But now that we came to that agreement together, we came to that understanding together, we have grown together."