Who is Jean Muggli? All About Michael Strahan’s Ex-wife

Jean Muggli is the ex-wife of Michael Strahan. Born on November 30, 1964, and 59 years old, she made it to the limelight through her marriage to the former NFL star who also doubles as a TV personality, journalist, and the co-host of ABC’s Good Morning America. 

Jean’s marriage to Michael lasted from 1999 to 2006 when they divorced. Their divorce was one of the most expensive in history. As such, it comes as no surprise that more than a decade after the union ended, Jean still attracts the attention of the public in relation to the marriage. She has also made the news for running foul of the law.

Jean Muggli Was Born In North Dakota in 1964

It was on November 30, 1964, that Jean Muggli was in North Dakota, United States. 59 years old, of White ethnicity, and of American nationality, she was born into the family of Mary Banning and Anthony Alphonse Muggli, who lived to be 67 before his death in 2000.

While there is not much information about her childhood, it is known that she grew up on a farm in the Carson Area, as her parents were farmers who lived their entire lives after the birth of their daughter farming. Before her birth, her father once served with the US military and was posted to Germany for some time. Jean was raised in a catholic family that was very large. She had three brothers and three sisters.

For her education, the former celebrity wife went to Carson High School in North Dakota. From there, she remained close to home when she went to North Dakota State University. She indicated on her Facebook page that she also went to other institutions; Moorhead State University, the University of Oxford, and Mary College, Bismarck, North Dakota.

She and Strahan Began Dating After His First Divorce

The love story between the pair began in the second part of the 1990s after the marriage of Michael to businesswoman Wanda Hutchins came to an end. The pair got married in 1992, and then by 1996, they decided to end their marriage.

In the quest for love, Michael met Jean for the first time in a Spa in Manhattan shortly after his divorce from his first wife. Instantly, he fell for her, and fortunately for him, that was also where she worked. Hence, he returned there every day for a month until he finally had the boldness to ask her out.

Jean stated that she observed Michael, and she came to the conclusion, as he kept coming and going each day, that he was either the neatest man alive or he was interested in her. At the time, she was not into athletics, and she knew next to nothing about Strahan, but she revealed that it was not hard for her to figure out he was not just an average athlete.

The pair got married in 1999, and although, for a while, the marriage seemed as though it was destined to last, things soon took a wrong turn that led to their divorce in 2006.

Their Divorce Was A Long and Bitter Fight

Only a few months after they had their Twins, Michael and Jean ended their marriage. This was after Strahan filed for a divorce in 2004. However, it was until 2006 that they were finally divorced by the law courts. Before then, there were many accusations and counter-accusations between them.

Jean accused her estranged husband of domestic abuse. According to her, they had an argument over money, and then along the line, her husband, at the time, went physical with her. The argument was said to have begun after Strahan found out that his wife moved close to $1.7 million from one of their joint accounts, and then he confronted her. She acknowledged moving the funds, but in her defense, she claimed that it was because he cut her credit cards, and she had the belief that he was also moving funds.

The woman and her attorney insisted that the abuse claims were things that could be verified medically. She claimed that there were times when the former NFL star punched and choked her. She added that it was not the first time that she was a victim of her ex-husband’s emotional and physical abuses, claiming that he started abusing her in 1999, even before they got married.

However, Michael insisted he did not abuse his wife either physically or emotionally, and he would never abuse people he cared about. The court took his side, stating that the allegation had no merit and there was nothing to support the claim. Another accusation Jean had against her former husband was that he was cheating on her with an overseas mistress.

Their Divorce Settlement Is One of The Most Expensive in History

After a lengthy court hearing about the divorce, it was finally granted in 2006. More than that is the fact that the divorce case was long and bitter; the settlement was on the very high side as Michael Strahan was made to pay his former wife more than $15 million.

He was also asked to auction their home together, which went for around $3.6 million, and he gave her $1.8 million from the proceeds of the New Jersey property.

One of the main reasons why the divorce was contentious, and Muggli made away with as much as she did, was because of a pre-nuptial agreement that Michael and Muggli signed when they first married. It has been reported that the prenup allowed her to walk away with half of their asset in a case of divorce.

For their two daughters together, Strahan was made by the court to pay a monthly fee of $18,000 in child support. In addition to that, Jean was given primary custody of the kids, while Michael had visitation rights to the girls.

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Jean Muggli and Strahan Have Sued Each Other Over The Years

The drama between Jean Muggli and her former husband did not end with the finalization of the divorce, as by 2020, they were back again in court with different prayers. At the time, Michael dragged his former wife to court, asking that he be given custody of their kids because of the alleged emotional and physical abuse they were suffering at the hands of their mother. His other claim was that the court ordered that the kids go to therapy, but their mother failed to ensure that happened.

Before this, Jean dragged her former husband to court on two separate occasions in two different states, requesting for more money to be added to the $18,000 she was getting each month in child support for their daughters.

It was made known that 13 years after the divorce ruling, Strahan did not miss a single payment, but Jean wanted the initial agreement to be modified. She reportedly filed the case in New York, and before then, she also filed it in North Carolina. Details of the outcome of both cases are not clear.

The Couple Had Two Kids Together

Julia and Michael’s marriage was blessed with two amazing kids, Sophia Strahan and Isabella Strahan, who were born twins on October 28, 2004. It was shortly after the birth of the girls, who are now 19 years old, that the marriage between their parents ended.

Following the divorce between their parents, the two girls, as stated, lived primarily with their mother, but they had both parents in their lives and came to develop a great relationship with them. They split their time between North Carolina and North Dakota.

Talking about the temperaments of his daughters, Michael revealed that Isabella is the one who is calm and playful. She got her education from a high school in New York City, where she is involved in various sports activities, including volleyball. She is also a horse rider, something she began with her sister when they were only 14.

The 19 year old has also started her career as a model. Her first runway appearance was for Sherri Hill. She has also since signed with the New York City modeling agency Women 360.

Sophia, the more curious one, is also an equestrian, just like her sister, and a volleyball player as well. She graduated from high school and revealed that she had plans of attending Duke University. She made it known that she was joining as part of the 2027 class.

Although the two are the only children Muggli and Strahan shared together, Strahan has two other kids from his first marriage to Wanda Hutchin. His oldest child, Tania Strahan, was born on November 10, 1991, in Germany.

The next child is Michael Anthony Strahan Jr., who was also born in Germany on November 12, 1994. After the marriage between the pair ended, the kids moved to Germany from Houston, where they lived for some time. Jean, on the other hand, did not have any more kids apart from Sophia and Isabella.

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Jean Muggli Was In A Relationship With Marianne Ayer

Since their divorce, Jean has not walked down the aisle a second time. In fact, she has not been in many relationships, based on public records. As reported, the only relationship she got into was with a woman who was also a divorcee, Marianne Ayer. Details surrounding how they met and began dating are not clear, but while some claim that they were an item, there were those who stated they were only close friends.

Whatever the case may be, it is known that the two women once lived together and even moved to a new city together with Jean’s two daughters and Ayer’s son. The relationship lasted a while before the women had a fallout that would later involve the law.

This was the only relationship that the mother of two had been linked to in the public domain, probably because she decided against dating or because she has found a way of keeping her private life private.

The same cannot be said about her former husband, who has been very active in the dating circle. In 2006 after his divorce, Strahan was linked to Stefani Vara until 2007, when they were said to have broken up. Next, he dated Nicole Mitchell Murphy for close to seven years, from 2007 to 2014. He was once engaged to Eddie Murphy’s former wife in 2009 before they called it off and ended the relationship. The next woman he dated briefly was Marianna Hewitt in 2014.

The Good Morning America is currently in a relationship with Kayla Quick, whom he started dating in 2015. Although there is a massive 18 years age difference between them, as Kayla was born on October 17, 1989, while Strahan was born on November 21, 1971, they have still managed to be very close.

She Was Arrested For Harassing Marianne in 2022

Unlike many other celebrity wives who retire from the public scene after a divorce, Jean Muggli, who now resides in New York, has managed to remain in the spotlight many years after. Even if this means for often controversial reasons. In 2019, she was heard of when she dragged her husband to court, and then in 2020, she was in the news when it was her former husband who took her to court as indicated.

In 2022, she got into trouble with the law after it was reported that she violated an order of protection her girlfriend got against her. It was reported that before the violation, Jean and her alleged girlfriend at the time, Marianne Ayer, had moved in together into a home that was paid for by the two women in New York, although it was only Jean’s name that was on the lease.

Marianne claimed that they used to live together in New Jersey but had to move to New York so that it would be easy for Michael Strahan to see his daughters. Soon after the move, everything changed as Jean began abusing Marianne and her son. She revealed that one day she came back, and her things were thrown into the basement, and the keys to the house were changed.

Describing Jean as a vile, dangerous, and evil woman who was a sociopath and narcissist, Marianne claimed that her former friend continued to harass her and her son, so she decided to get an order of protection. However, this did not stop Jean Muggli as she soon printed topless photos of Ayer and came to her new home, where she shared them with strangers. This was the act that led to her arrest in New York City.

She was subsequently slammed with criminal contempt charges that were for terrorizing her former girlfriend with the intent of humiliating her. Other things that she was accused of included disorderly conduct, abuse, animal abuse, and grand larceny.

Since then, there has been nothing more that is heard about Jean Muggli, although it is known that she still lives with her daughters in New York. It is not known what Michael Strahan’s ex-wife does for a living, but she won’t be hurting for cash, seeing the settlement she received when they split.