Michael Strahan reveals closing of tooth gap was April Fools joke
In a video posted to Instagram, Strahan said, ‘The gap is here to stay — for a little while. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon’
It looks like Michael Strahan‘s signature tooth gap will live to see another day — and for the foreseeable future.
The Good Morning America host and former athlete revealed on Thursday that a video he posted showing him getting a procedure to close his gap was actually all a ruse.
Read More: Michael Strahan closes trademark gap in must-see reveal
Strahan posted a follow-up video on April Fools’ Day to announce the plot twist to his millions of followers.
“I appreciate all the comments. I was surprised, to be honest with you, at how many people were like, ‘No, don’t get rid of the gap! It’s your signature!’” Strahan, 49, said in a nearly two-minute video.
“I didn’t know so many people really cared. But I appreciate all the love for the gap. I’ve had it for almost 50 years now, and a lot of people out there would always say, ‘Yeah you make me feel good about rocking mine,’” adding, “I know it was a shocker to see it gone.”
The TV personality encouraged his fans, despite his supposed cosmetic change, to be themselves. “Be you. Live the way you wanna live. Do what makes you happy, because I did and I am happy that I did it,” he said.
“So, I just wanted to say…” he added before pulling down his mask to reveal his gap was still intact. “April Fools! Come on, man! The gap is here to stay — for a little while. It’s not going anywhere anytime soon.”
Strahan’s pseudo-new smile was the work of Smile Design Manhattan, a cosmetic dentistry service in New York by Dr. Lee Gause. Gause even went so far as to discuss the “procedure” in an interview with E! News.
“There are lots of miraculous things that can be done with cosmetic dentistry, and Michael Strahan has probably the most signature gap on television,” Gause said at the time. “It just shows the miracles that are possible with cosmetic dentistry to be able to close a gap that is the size of Michael Strahan’s. I think he looks great. I think he was pretty excited about it.”
Dr. Gause, however, declined to share if Strahan’s procedure was permanent or temporary — now we know why.
But not everyone was buying Strahan’s new look as some fans were still not completely convinced that the video and the procedure were real, especially since Strahan tweeted just last week, “I rock my gap with pride! It’s who I am!”
In an interview with Elle magazine in 2012, he said he had previously considered closing his gap.
“There’s so much pressure to be perfect,” Strahan told the publication. “You can fix everything now. For me, I made the conscious effort to say, ‘This is who I am.’ I’m not perfect. I don’t want to try to be perfect. At this point, I don’t think my kids would recognize me without it. They’d be like, ‘Who is this stranger in the house? Call 911!’”
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