TV personality Michael Strahan has a new title under his belt: grandfather. The Good Morning America host recently shared that his eldest child, Tanita Strahan, gave birth to her first child, a son named Onyx. The news was shared on a recent Fox NFL Sunday broadcast when Analyst Howie Long said, “Congrats, grandpa,” to Strahan during the broadcast.
The new grandpa affirmed the news and said, “Yes, I’m a grandfather, everybody. My daughter Tanita and my grandson Onyx, is his name. That means black.”
Strahan, 52, added, “I know you guys have gone through this. I’m happy to be able to welcome in that club.”
The TV personality is currently a father of four. He had Tanita and his son Michael Strahan Jr., with ex-wife Wanda Hutchins. After the divorce in 1996, Wanda stayed in Germany (where the former couple met) with the kids, while Strahan returned to the U.S. That meant he did long-distance parenting for several years.
“But from day one, it was very important for me to be active, to be a part of their life. I was constantly on planes and phones. And it’s very hard — of course it’s hard with them being in Germany. But one thing I learned is, you make time for what you want to make time for,” he told PEOPLE.
The former NFL player later went on to become a twin dad to 19-year-old Isabella Strahan and Sophia Strahan, who he had with his ex-wife Jean Muggli.
During an interview with New York Family in 2013, Strahan shared that his eldest daughter is his mini me in some ways.
“She’s kind of like me in the sense that she has a very strong personality, but a silent strong personality,” he told New York Family in his interview. “She’s not going to be one to walk into a room and make it all about her. She definitely has an opinion and she’s very smart and she knows what she wants, which I love about her.”
Strahan seems to be closing the year out on a high, considering one of his twin daughters, Isabella, also beat cancer a few months ago and is back at college after four rounds of treatment.