Michael Strahan pulled off an elaborate April Fools Day prank, which successfully pranked many of his fans into believing he ditched his signature gap-tooth smile.

In new footage posted to his Instagram account, the 49-year-old Good Morning America star confirmed it was all just a joke as he marveled at how many people urged him not to 'get rid of the gap.'

He thanked everyone for all their comments over the past 48 hours and admitted he 'was surprised, to to be honest' that 'so many people really cared.'

'I just wanted to say April Fools',' Strahan said while removing his mask to confirm he still had the gap between his teeth. 'Come on, man. The gap is here to stay for a little while. It's not going anywhere anytime soon. So April Fools' everybody.'

Acknowledging all the online support he received, he continued: 'I feel really bad about actually not closing it after everything that I saw. But the gap is here. The gap is not going anywhere for a while. My mama likes it, so there you go. It’s for you Mama.'

On Tuesday, Strahan unveiled his temporary gapless grin with his 1.3 million Twitter followers, which sent the internet into a frenzy.

'I love it! Holy f**k!' the NFL legend said in a video posted showing him gazing into the mirror after his appointment with Dr. Lee Gause at Smile Design Manhattan.

He was wearing a removable dental piece and talking about how his loved ones have always disapproved of him closing the gap.

In the video of Strahan undergoing the procedure, he can be seen explaining to his dentist that his friends and family have repeatedly discouraged him from filling in the gap.

'I gotta do what I wanna do for myself,' he reflected, before saying the final result was '50 years in the making.'

In 2012, he discussed whether he was ever self-conscious about his smile.

'I was really close to closing it up. I was at the dentist having him do mock-ups. I thought about it, man,' he admitted, noting he felt more pressure in his twenties.

He explained: 'I was playing with the Giants. There's so much pressure to be perfect. You can fix everything now. For me, I made the conscious effort to say, 'This is who I am.'

'I'm not perfect. I don't want to try to be perfect. At this point, I don't think my kids would recognize me without it,' the four-of-four quipped.

Strahan fans were immediately shocked when they saw his gapless smile, with one one joking he 'lost all his super powers.'

Another tweeted: 'This is definitely one of the worst things I've ever seen. Strahan's gap is iconic. It's like Robert De Niro's mole or Tom Selleck's mustache. You don't just get rid of that nonchalantly.'

Others were proud of him for doing what made him feel confident.

'Good for you!' Troy Aikman tweeted.