3-ring Strahan circus rolls on
By NICOLE BODE, NANCY DILLON,JAMES KIRCHICK and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
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Dr. Ian Smith (l.) with Michael Strahan in '02. Yesterday Strahan's wife backed off remarks about their sexuality.
Jean Strahan plays with twin 19-month-old daughters Isabella (l.) and Sophia yesterday at Strahans' century-old home in Montclair, N.J.
Who's who in colorful mess for Big Blue star
'Lifestyle' line likely a bid to force settlement
Giants sack master Michael Strahan yesterday tried to do an end run away from questions about his "alternative lifestyle" - right through the streets of the West Village.
The burly all-pro brushed against a moving cab and dodged cars as he sprinted from reporters outside a gym on Christopher St., along with the twin brother of his pal TV doc Ian Smith.
"They can't hurt me," Strahan, 34, yelled to a well-wishing fan as Dana Smith jogged alongside. "That's why I'm running in these streets."
The bizarre scene capped another circuslike day in the Big Blue superstar's ongoing bitter divorce battle.
It also came a day after his estranged wife suggested he and his pal, TV doctor Ian Smith, were more than just close friends - saying the duo pursued an "alternative lifestyle" after moving in together when the Strahans broke up last year.
Strahan's parents told the Daily News yesterday he's not gay - and Smith's wife said the doctor and best-selling author is 100% straight.
Even Strahan's estranged wife admitted she might have gone too far by hinting the football star and Smith are an item - but she still thinks they're dogs.
"I didn't just blurt out Michael is gay with Ian," Jean Strahan, 41, told The News. "I really meant that it was a lifestyle change. ... Alternative to being with me was hanging out with this guy, chasing anything that moves."
Smith, best-selling author of "The Fat Smash Diet," went on the raunchy "Opie and Anthony" radio show to again squash an illicit suggestion about him and his longtime buddy Strahan, who was a groomsman at the doctor's wedding last year.
The Strahans are squabbling over how to divvy up millions of dollars and trading barbs over one another's free-spending ways.
She wants about $14 million to end their 7-year marriage, but he wants to fork over half that.
Her lawyer has accused Strahan of raiding the couple's joint account to pump money into Dana Smith's West Village-based fashion business.
Jean Strahan claimed she only made the "alternative lifestyle" accusation to dramatize just how badly their storybook marriage imploded last year.
"This is someone who weeks earlier was committed to two babies and a family life," said Jean Strahan, 41. "So all of a sudden he became a wild bachelor overnight. To me, that was a very alternative lifestyle."
As if to paint a portrait of the life Michael Strahan spurned, Jean Strahan played happily with their twin 19-month-old girls on the brick patio of their restored century-old mansion in Montclair, N.J.
"I don't really know my husband ... other than he's very active chasing women and he hangs out with Ian," she said.
Nearly 1,000 miles west, Ian Smith's brilliant and beautiful wife said she's known her husband for 14 years - and declared he's definitely not gay.
"I have no qualms whatsoever on my husband's sexuality," said Triste Lieteau at her Chicago office. "It's so ridiculous. What can you say."
The high-powered medical doctor and lawyer insisted there was nothing suspicious about Ian Smith inviting Strahan to stay at his upper East Side pad after the athlete broke up with his wife.
"It was a friend helping a friend," said Lieteau, 31, who lives in a trendy Chicago neighborhood. "It's sad that the price of a friendship is that you get dragged into this."
She vowed not to "lower herself" into a media battle with Jean Strahan, but threatened unspecified legal action.
"This is just a blip," she added. "I love my husband dearly and I know he loves me dearly. ... This will only make us stronger."
Strahan's parents also scoffed at the scandal and said his estranged wife is slinging mud in a desperate bid to settle scores.
"First there was other women, now she says it's Dr. Ian," said Gene Willie Strahan from his hometown of Houston. "I know Dr. Ian and he's not gay and neither is Michael."
His churchgoing mom chuckled at the claim that her burly football star son is anything other than a lady-killer.
"If Michael was gay we would all know about it, believe me, you couldn't hide that," said Louise Strahan. "I leave this in the good lord's hands. The truth will come out."
His mom added that she feels pity for Jean Strahan.
"I feel sorry for my daughter-in-law," Louise Strahan said. "Soon to be ex-daughter-in-law, I hope."
"She has some serious problems," Gene Willie Strahan said.
Last night, after his dash from the press, Strahan went out to Pastis, a Meatpacking District hotspot, with the Smith brothers and his rumored gal pal, model Eva Pigford.
"Have a good evening," he told a reporter as he and Ian Smith left together in Strahan's black Bentley.[/align]