FULL INSIDE STORY! “Live” co-host MICHAEL STRAHAN has been caught up in a shocking cheating scandal!
A source says the popular gap-toothed TV star was stunned when the Internet lit up with rumors that his gorgeous fiancée Nicole Murphy had two-timed him with one of Beyonce’s male dancers.
But Nicole, 46, hotly denied the report that she’d betrayed Michael, 42, with the dancer, 25-year-old French hip-hop star Larry Bourgeois, said the source. Still, Michael – who’s reportedly set to add a gig on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to his ever-increasing workload – was apparently pretty shaken up.
“The first thing Nicole did was tell Michael that the story was absolutely not true,” the source told The ENQUIRER. “But certainly Michael was stunned. With his career going gangbusters, this type of thing is really upsetting to him. Michael loves Nicole, but he spends a great deal of time in New York working while she’s in Los Angeles. So it’s shocking to him when rumors pop up that she’s flirting up a storm in his absence.”
The cheating scandal exploded on April 4 when the celebrity website “Media Take Out” quoted an eyewitness who claimed to have seen Nicole cozying up to Bourgeois at a Hollywood event. “If she (Nicole) is still with Michael (Strahan), she’s sure not acting like it. She clearly wanted to take Larry home yesterday,” the source was quoted as saying.
Nicole “hung around like a groupie” before she and Bourgeois – who performs with his twin brother Laurent – left separately, said the eyewitness, adding: “She (Nicole) is twice his age and it looked pretty desperate to me.”
This isn’t the first time that Nicole – who has five children with ex-hubby Eddie Murphy – has been accused of cheating. In September 2005, The ENQUIRER reported the former model was accused of romancing businessman Alan Daniels months before she slapped Murphy with a divorce suit.
At the time, Murphy filed court papers asking that Nicole be prevented from having their children in Daniels’ presence.
Daniels was chief executive of RealEstate.com, an Internet real estate company that went bust after reportedly blowing $60 million in venture capital and falling $10 million in debt.
“With that in Nicole’s past, it’s understandable that Michael would be concerned when he heard rumors she’d cheated,” said the source.
“But Nicole is also a TV producer, and on a professional level, she’s always on the lookout for new talent.
“So when she’s being friendly, she’s not flirting – it’s business.”
Nicole and Michael – who has four children with two ex-wives – recently sold two pricey Los Angeles properties and shelled out $16 million for a 15,000-square-foot super-home large enough for their blended family.
“Nicole adores Michael, and she’s planning their wedding,” noted the source. “So she’s not cheating with anyone. She’s just looking forward to being Mrs. Michael Strahan
