SHOCKING REVELATION: MICHAEL STRAHAN OPENS UP ABOUT HIS DIVORCE PAIN 😱

Michael Strahan says that going through a divorce was one of the most challenging times he endured in his personal life, but it’s one that helped him recognize his own strength.

In this week’s PEOPLE cover story, the Good Morning America co-anchor opens up to about his divorce, dating life and previous engagement to Nicole Murphy.

“Personally, getting divorced is probably one of the toughest things I’ve ever gone through but it was also a learning experience and I learned a lot about myself and I learned a lot about a lot of the people who were around at that time and some aren’t around anymore,” Strahan, 44, tells PEOPLE of his previous marriages to Jean Muggli (1999–2006) and Wanda Hutchins (1992–1996).

Asked what he specifically came to learn through the the divorces, Strahan says, “That I was strong.”

He adds, “When you’re a single father at that point with four month old kids and you gotta be with them all the time by yourself and watching them grow and you gotta be active and I gotta do all those things, it taught me that I can do it. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I can do it. And I did it. And it was an amazing thing. I look back on that and it’s one of the most fulfilling times of my life. And I look at my kids now and it makes me happy because I know it paid off in my relationship with them.”

The father of four – he shares two children with Muggli and two children with Hutchins – admits to having a positive relationship with both of his exes. He cites Muggli as “one of my best friends” and says of his time with Hutchins, “We just laugh. It’s like a family without being in a relationship.”

Though Strahan reveals that people are frequently trying to set him, Strahan is staying mum about his current relationship status, telling PEOPLE: “I’ve done the public relationship and it doesn’t work.”

He adds, “The publicity and the things that I do are a byproduct of what I do, I don’t want that to be confused as being your life. I think it just puts pressure on a relationship and relationships are already hard enough as it is. I just don’t want that pressure on any relationship that I have.”

• For much more from Michael Strahan – including where he stands with former co-host Kelly Ripa, his unique family and amazing life story – pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday

Strahan also acknowledges he “learned a lot of things from” his previous engagement to Murphy.

Two years after the duo called off their five-year engagement in August 2014, Strahan says, “I just know who I am now and when I’m not working, I’m a private person.”

He adds, “I love people but I’m really kind of embarrassed … hate to say it that way, but embarrassed by being noticed and being known. The attention of it makes me uneasy because I’m kind of the quiet type when I’m out and about.”