Michael Strahan nearly cries as Olivia Munn shares touching cancer story on 'GMA'

Anthony Robledo, USA TODAYWed, October 21, 2026 at 10:36 PM UTC

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Michael Strahan held back tears on TV as Olivia Munn shared moving remarks he gave her during her cancer battle that stayed with her.

On a Wednesday, Oct. 21 episode of "Good Morning America," the former NFL defensive end, 54, and "Your Friends & Neighbors" actress, 46, discussed Munn's health journey after she battled breast cancer.

Munn was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer in both breasts in April 2023. She underwent five surgeries, including a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, as well as a partial hysterectomy. Her mother, Kim, was also diagnosed with breast cancer a year later.

During the interview, Munn said Strahan offered her a "road map" for supporting a loved one through cancer treatment. Strahan's daughter, Isabella, now 21, was diagnosed with medulloblastoma in 2023 at age 19.

Medulloblastoma is a malignant brain tumor that typically develops in the lower back part of the brain and primarily affects children and teens, according to the National Cancer Society.

"Michael and I have been friends for a really long time and something that I learned very personally through this journey was that it’s one thing to be a cancer patient, it’s another thing to be the caregiver of someone going through cancer," she said to Strahan and cohosts Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos. "When my mom was diagnosed, it was right around the same time Michael’s daughter had gone public with her brain cancer journey."

Munn said she was struggling with the thought of her mom going through what she went through, adding, "You think about your moms and you wanna take care of them."

"I remember, I said to Michael, 'I just want to put it onto my cancer tab. Like, let me do it. I can do it. I don’t want her to go through this. I want to do it and I feel so helpless,'" she said. "And you said something that was so impactful that has stayed with me every day of that journey."

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She continued: "He said, 'But you can’t. You can’t do it for them, but what you can do is be there for them.' And it was so simple and I knew that you were doing it for your daughter and I thought, if you can do it then I can do it. It just gave me a road map to get through it and be there for her. So, thank you so much."

Michael Strahan says Olivia Munn is going to 'make me cry'

Strahan was clearly touched by Munn's remarks and he described her as one of the strongest people he knows.

"You're gonna make me cry today," he said. "I'm getting there."

Munn also gave a health update, saying she's "doing good" three years after her cancer diagnosis. Though she said "there’s the short hurdles," from major surgeries to intense treatments early on in her journey as well as "the long hurdles, which is what I’m in now and the symptoms come up and it can be really difficult."

However, she quipped that her mom is doing "annoyingly good" after her treatment. "But everybody is different in how their treatment feels and the symptoms it brings and I try to remember that when it gets hard," she said.

In August, Munn opened up about how she felt tired of not dressing how she wants to following four surgeries.

"I don't know how I'm gonna do it, but I'm tired of not feeling like myself every day," she told USA TODAY. "And I just made the decision after going through years of back-to-back battles that I’m just not going to spend the rest of my life feeling like I don't have the outfit to wear. And that was a big motivator for me to be like, 'I'm going to figure this out. I'm going to be happy.'"

Contributing: Morgan Evans, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Strahan nearly cries as Olivia Munn shares touching cancer story on 'GMA'

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