It was in October 2023 when the entire world turned upside down for the Strahan family as then-18-year-old Isabella Strahan was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer. Thankfully, as explored in ABC’s ‘Life Interrupted: Isabella Strahan’s Fight to Beat Cancer,’ despite some lasting effects, she has since beaten the illness and returned to college cancer-free. Yet, we can’t help but wonder more about its impact on her loving family, particularly her mother, Jean Muggli, whom we know had long been divorced from her father, anchor Michael Strahan.
Jean Muggli and Michael Strahan Had a Bitter Divorce
Although it’s true that Jean and Michael once seemed to have a near-idyllic life, considering his incredibly successful career as an NFL athlete and their young family, things changed in 2006. The truth is they had first come across one another at a spa in Manhattan where the former worked in the late 1990s, only for it to take a month for him to gather up the courage to ask her out. According to reports, he actually visited the spa almost every day for a month just to see her, so she figured that “either he was the cleanest man on the planet or he wanted to ask me out.”
Jean was admittedly not keen on dating Michael at the time since athletes aren’t her type, yet she quickly changed her mind once she got to know him as she learned he wasn’t the “macho” kind. One thing then led to another, and the couple ultimately ended up happily tying the knot in a beautiful, cozy ceremony surrounded by all their loved ones in North Dakota on July 18, 1999. Five years later, on October 28, 2004, they welcomed their adorable twin daughters, Sophia and Isabella, who have always gotten along great with their half-siblings for their dad’s first marriage.
Unfortunately, though, the girls never really got an opportunity to grow up in a household with both their parents as they filed for divorce in 2006 following claims of violence as well as mistreatment. According to reports, Jean obtained a temporary restraining order against her husband on March 10, 2005, but it was vacated along with her claims of domestic violence following a trial a week later. A year later, she claimed Michael had beat her, secretly taped her sister undressing, and had affairs with at least three different women, leading to their divorce being finalized in July 2006.
Jean Muggli and Michael Strahan’s Bond Has Been Far From Amicable
When Jean had accused Michael of domestic violence in 2005, she alleged that a fight over money had escalated to such an extent he was shouting at her until spit was coming out his mouth. This money referred to $1.7 million that was missing from their joint savings account, which she had reportedly moved through a telephone transfer without his knowledge in any capacity. That’s what led him to become aggressive and angry while demanding the money be returned to him, only for Jean to further claim her belief that if her sister weren’t there, he would have hit her.
In the end, owing to there being no history of abuse or violence against Michael’s name in any of his romantic relationships until that point, the matter was dismissed by the courts for good. Nevertheless, his and Jean’s union had already begun crumbling apart, resulting in them moving forward with divorce proceedings in 2006, during which he alleged she spent money excessively. Yet, the former athelete was ultimately ordered to pay his ex $15 million in settlement, along with $18,000 a month in child support, just for it to later be reduced to just under $13,000 in 2009.
But alas, Jean and Michael’s legal issues were far from over as she sued him in October 2019 for allegedly not holding up his end of their child support agreement bargain, according to TMZ. In her over $540,000 lawsuit, she claimed her ex-husband was not only not paying equestrian expenses for their daughters but also owed her thousands of dollars in back pay child support. A month later, Michael accused his ex of taking advantage of their agreement before also alleging in March 2020 that she was physically as well as emotionally abusive to the twins. So, he wanted full custody, but the matter was seemingly soon settled between them.
Jean Muggli is Leading a Happy Life Today
From what we can tell, Jean and Michael have since set aside their personal differences for the sake of their daughters and actually even come to support one another in all their endeavors. In fact, they have even had a few family days, making it clear they have finally reached an amicable co-parenting stage, which undeniably also helped them a lot throughout Isabelle’s fight with cancer. So today, it appears as if Jean’s priority is just to spend as much quality time with her loved ones as possible, all the while also doing her best at her job as a Manager of a cosmetics store plus the owner of Sycamore Bend Estate wedding venue in Wilmington, North Carolina. The New York resident honestly appears perfectly content with her life as a single mother of two, animal lover, and family woman of writing, which is all that matters in the long run.
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