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CUSTODY BATTLE

GMA host Michael Strahan ‘had private investigators watch ex-wife Jean Muggli around the clock’, lawyer claims

MICHAEL Strahan's ex-wife has made the explosive claim that he had her followed "around the clock".

Jean Muggli Strahan and the former NFL player turned daytime host are locked in a bitter court battle after she accused him of not paying her annual cost of living adjustments to the child support arrangement they agreed in 2009.

 Michael and Jean were married for seven years until their bitter divorce in 2006
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Michael and Jean were married for seven years until their bitter divorce in 2006Credit: Getty Images

But in response Michael, 48, filed for full time custody of their twin 15-year-old daughters, claiming Jean had been engaging in a "pattern of abusive conduct towards the children for years".

Now Jean is saying Michael had her followed with private investigators at her home in North Carolina where she lives with their daughters, Isabella and Sophia.

“He had around the clock private investigators at her home,” Muggli’s lawyer Shannon Rogers Simpson said in Manhattan Supreme Court Friday, according to

Simpson added: “He battered her financially with lawsuits. That’s how determined he is to not pay child support he agreed to ten years ago."

 Jean has accused Michael of hiring private investigators to keep an eye on her
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Jean has accused Michael of hiring private investigators to keep an eye on herCredit: Getty Images - Getty
 Isabella and Sophia are their 15-year-old twin daughters
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Isabella and Sophia are their 15-year-old twin daughtersCredit: Getty Images - Getty

Michael's lawyers denied the claims, saying: "The notion that she is under surveillance is absurd and could never be proven."

The Good Morning America star says he has proof Jean abused their daughters but would only reveal the details in sealed court documents.

He has also alleged that Jean failed to take the girls to court-ordered therapy sessions and kept them from attending their volleyball and equestrian events.

Michael  wants Jean to be held in criminal and civil contempt for her alleged actions. If awarded custody, the girls would move to New York City to be with him. They currently live in North Carolina with their mother.

 Michael joined the Good Morning America team in 2016
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Michael joined the Good Morning America team in 2016Credit: Rex Features

As for Jean, he's asking she only gets visitation rights.

The pair were married for seven years until 2006. In their divorce a court ordered Michael to pay Jean $15.3 million and $18,000 a month in child support.

 

Michael has two other children from his previous marriage to Wanda Hutchins, who he divorced in 1996.
He is currently worth about $65 million thanks to his successful NFL and television career.


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