AceShowbiz -

Did Kelly Ripa just diss Michael Strahan on camera? The female host of "Live! with Kelly and Michael" made a "contract negotiations" joke on her third day back on the show after her nearly weeklong absence ahead of her co-host's impending departure.

Things suddenly got awkward during a segment when "Wild Kingdom" star Peter Gros brought out a screaming armadillo. "I want to take him into contract negotiations with me!" Ripa laughed. Though keeping a straight face, Strahan didn't seem amused. "Wow," he said.

"He always gets his way with the predators," Gros said of the hairy critter. The wildlife expert also explained, "The reason he's screaming is he is small. He has no defense, no teeth. When a predator comes along, he squares it away with his scream."

Michael Strahan will leave "Live!" on May 13 to join "Good Morning America" later in September. Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen are reportedly eyed to replace him, but the latter debunks the rumor. "I've kind of said everything I had to say about it," he tells Us Weekly. "I have 10 jobs!" He adds, "I have my own late-night talk show that's on every night at 11 o'clock!"