You probably don’t need us to tell you that Michael Strahan is one of the most famous television personalities out there. He was able to successfully pivot away from his impressive football career to become the host of shows like Good Morning America and Live! with Kelly and Michael. But while he may seem like he has it all on the small screen, it’s safe to say that we only see a portion of what his life is really like. Behind the camera, his personal life is filled with little-known details – especially when it comes to his past relationships.
Michael Had Two Kids With His First Wife
Before he made a name for himself as a professional footballer, Michael Strahan married his first wife, Wanda Hutchins. The couple tied the knot in 1992, one year before he signed for the New York Giants, and Wanda stayed by his side during his crazy first year in the limelight. In fact, the couple even welcomed two children – a son and a daughter – into the world. But their love just wasn’t meant to last.
Michael and Wanda divorced in 1996, and this took a toll on Michael’s mental health. Although he wanted to spend as much time with his kids as possible, his busy schedule meant that they lived with Wanda full-time.
He Met His Second Wife at the Spa
Although Michael Strahan’s second wife was one of his longest relationships, it’s fair to say that they met under very unusual circumstances. Michael first came across Jean Muggli in 1994, when he had just started playing for the New York Giants. On one particular day, Michael headed to a spa where Jean worked to pick up some shower gel – and he stopped in his tracks as soon as he set eyes on her.
Back in the day, Michael wasn’t the confident man that he is now, so he returned to the spa day after day before he finally worked up the courage to talk to her. By that point, he had spent hundreds of dollars.
Jean Had Absolutely No Interest in Sports
While they do say that opposites attract, it’s always a good idea when your partner understands and appreciates what you do for a living. However, that was never the case with Michael Strahan and Jean Muggli. From the get-go, Jean told Michael that she had absolutely no interest in sports or even understood what he did within the NFL. At the time, Michael was so blinded by love that he didn’t seem to care.
However, the more years they spent together, the more it became clear that their lack of common ground contributed to their divorce. They just didn’t have much to say to each other, after all.
Michael Served Jean With a Promising Prenup
In the celebrity world, it’s not uncommon for couples to sign prenups before they get married. In most cases, this equally divides assets and earnings to ensure that what one person earns stays completely theirs. But when he asked Jean Muggli to marry him, Michael Strahan offered her a promising prenuptial agreement that certainly worked in her favor. This prenup stated that she would get 20% of everything he earned during their marriage if they ever separated.
Of course, Michael and Jean didn’t go into their marriage thinking they would ever get divorced, so Jean didn’t think too much about this prenup. But it certainly worked in her favor when they did eventually divorce.
Michael Learnt a Lot About Ending Relationships
When he realized that his first marriage to Wanda Hutchins was breaking down, he tried to mend it for the sake of his children. He didn’t want to bring his kids into a broken family, and he had hoped to salvage what little love they had left. However, he discovered that drawing out the inevitable simply made things worse. He used this life lesson when he realized that his second marriage was on the rocks.
Although Michael had welcomed twins with his second wife, Jean Muggli, he knew it was wrong to stay with her for the sake of their children. So, he pulled the plug earlier on – but this didn’t work in his favor.
His Second Wife Accused Him of Domestic Violence
When Michael made motions to divorce his first wife, he assumed that the whole process would be fairly smooth. However, he soon realized that wouldn’t be the case when he was served with legal papers that told him Jean Muggli would be suing him for domestic violence. According to the papers, this claim could be “medically verified” and would sit alongside the other claims that suggested he’d been cheating on her with another woman.
Apparently, Michael made no secret about his affair and would talk to her on the phone in front of Jean. He would also buy presents for her and leave them out in the open in their shared home.
Michael and Jean Would Often Fight About Money
Every marriage has its ups and downs, but it’s been reported that one of the main problem points for Michael Strahan and Jean Muggli was their finances. One point of contention came when Jean supposedly took $1.7 million from their joint bank account and put it into her own personal bank account. When Michael realized what had happened, he wasn’t happy and reportedly demanded that she move it back to their joint account immediately.
In her official lawsuit, Muggli claims, “He was yelling so close that spit was hitting my face.” As if that wasn’t enough, she also reported that Michael would block her credit cards so she couldn’t spend any money.
Jean Was Apparently Scared of Michael
After moving $1.7 million out of their joint account and into her personal account, Jean Muggli reportedly saw a different side to her husband. In her eyes, he had an angry, dangerous side – and she didn’t want any part of that. That’s supposedly the reason why she took another $1.6 million out of their joint account and moved it into her personal account. According to her, she was scared of her husband.
She said, “I was afraid at this point. He looked at me with such hate.” And, apparently, she took this money because she wanted to leave Michael and start a new life for herself.
It Wasn’t the First Time He’d Supposedly Acted Out
Jean Muggli’s lawsuit against Michael Strahan eventually made its way into court, and even more revelations about their marriage came to light. According to Jean, that wasn’t the first time that Michael had been violent and aggressive towards her. She told the courts that he often had fits of rage, and she claimed that Michael even punched her face while they were living overseas in Germany in 1996. This was before they got married.
Jean filed police reports against her husband when they returned to the U.S., and the police confirmed that they did make a couple of visits to their home during that time. So, was she telling the truth?
He Reportedly Took Videos of Jean’s Sister
As well as making domestic charges against her ex-husband, Jean Muggli also had some other information to share with the courts. She claimed that, before they got married, Michael took videos of her sister while she was getting undressed. Her sister had no idea that she was being filmed, and Jean reportedly discovered what had happened when she spotted filming equipment in the bedroom her sister was staying in.
Jean also claimed that Michael paid $30,000 to keep her quiet about the whole ordeal. However, Michael has neither accepted or denied these claims against him, so the truth is still unknown.
Jean and Michael Eventually Went to Therapy
Despite claims of domestic abuse and violence, it seems as though Jean Muggli wanted to work through their problems during this time. She managed to convince Michael to go to therapy, and they went together to work on his anger problems and the issues in their marriage. By this point, they hadn’t had their daughters – but she knew that Michael had the potential to be a wonderful father. So, she stuck by him.
By the time their daughters arrived, however, his anger issues were reportedly still there. And it seemed as though Michael had had enough of his life with his second wife.
Michael Denies the Charges
When the couple eventually decided to call it quits and get divorced, Michael hoped that they would amicably part ways without too much drama. But then he found himself faced with domestic abuse charges – and he wasn’t happy. Although Jean Muggli seemed to have a believable case against her ex-husband, Michael Strahan denied any wrongdoing and denied all of the domestic abuse charges against him. He said he would never “physically or psychologically harm any of my loved ones, especially my wife.”
At the time, people just didn’t know what to believe. It was one person’s word against another, and what made it all the more difficult was that everything that supposedly happened took place behind closed doors. But later on, the tide seemed to change in his favor.
Jean Also Claimed That Michael Preferred Men
When they finally divorced, Jean seemed to get many things off her chest. And another allegation she added to the list was that her ex-husband’s sexuality was part of the reason why their marriage broke down. Although Michael has only publicly had relationships with women, she claimed that Michael was secretly attracted to men – and that his sexuality was the main reason why he had stopped being intimate with her during their marriage.
She even suggested that Strahan had a secret relationship with fellow NFL star, Ian Smith. The footballers lived together for a few months, and Jean Muggli said, “You can tell an alternative lifestyle sprouted.”
Eventually, Jean Retracted the Allegations Against Michael
For a while, many people believed Jean Muggli’s side of the story and believed her claims about Michael Strahan. This put his whole career in jeopardy and completely changed public opinion of him. But then, out of the blue, Jean retracted all of her allegations against her ex-husband, and the judge for their lawsuit had no option but to dismiss the case and drop all charges against the famous football player.
Of course, the optics of Jean changing her story so far into the lawsuit weren’t in her favor. Many people assumed that she had simply made up the stories about her ex to tear his reputation down.
The Whole Ordeal Lost Him Time With His Kids
Although Michael’s fans breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that Jean Muggli had retracted her claims, that didn’t mean that Michael was off the hook completely. Apparently, it was decided that Michael would no longer be allowed to live in the home that he had purchased with Jean, and that he wouldn’t even be allowed in to see their daughters. Instead, he had to meet them outside the house every second two days.
Being denied access to his house and his children was a tough pill for Michael to swallow, but it was something that he simply had to deal with. And it was something that he had to try and get over.
Jean Got $15 Million From Their Divorce
Losing his wife, home, and children to his divorce was probably hard enough without the domestic abuse charges thrown in there, too. But things got even worse for Michael when it came to their finances. Although Strahan had been happy with the prenuptial agreement they agreed upon before they tied the knot, the bad blood between them made parting with almost $16 million a tough blow to his ego and his bank account.
Yes, Muggli walked away with 20% of everything Michael earned between 1999 and 2006 – and this meant that she had a huge payday that set her up for the rest of her life.