Michael Strahan is known for his trademark gap in between his front teeth. The “Live! with Kelly and Michael” co-host says he once thought of changing his smile, but now the former New York Giants defensive end is comfortable with his unique grin.

Strahan, 41, told Elle magazine that in his early playing days he almost closed the gap in his front teeth when he got cold feet about changing 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,” the former Super Bowl winner said in an interview with Elle’s Mickey Rapkin.

Strahan said he wasn’t going to fix his teeth because he accepted who he was as a person, flaws and all.

“I was in my twenties. I was playing with the Giants. There’s so much pressure to be perfect. You can fix everything now,” the former Giants defensive end said. “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. They’d be like, ‘Who is this stranger in the house? Call 911!’”

In the wide ranging interview, Strahan also opened up about his new fiancée, Nicole Murphy, his two prior marriages and his childhood crush.

Strahan said he still hasn’t told Elisabeth Shue, whom he discovered as a child watching “The Karate Kid,” that he had a crush on her when he was younger.

“Heck, no. Man, are you crazy? What, we’re at school and I’m like, ‘Hey, you know you were my childhood crush?’ [Laughs] She’d be like, ‘Security!’” Strahan joked.

The “Live! With Kelly and Michael” co-host said he “definitely” believes in marriage despite two divorces. He said his relationship with Murphy is different than those with his ex-wives.

“I can be myself. I have someone who gets along with my family. And who gets along with my friends. And we have a lot of the same interests. Life is just a lot more peaceful,” Strahan said.

Despite the toughness of his old job chasing down quarterbacks, Strahan said he has a soft side.

“’The Notebook,’ gets me every time,” he said of the Ryan Gosling chick flick based off the Nicholas Sparks novel. “It’s a great love story. Boy from the wrong side of the tracks. They get on each other’s nerves, but they can’t live without each other. It almost makes me shed a tear.”

Super Bowl