Kelly Ripa Makes A Heartbreaking Confession About Co-Star's Passing

Following the death of Philbin in July 2020, the hosts of Live with Kelly and Ryan published a joint statement — though that, of course, didn't tell the whole story. "We are beyond saddened to learn about the loss of Regis Philbin. He was the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes every day on Live for more than 23 years," they said.

From there, Kelly and Ryan continued, "We were beyond lucky to have him as a mentor in our careers and aspire everyday to fill his shoes on the show. We send our deepest love and condolences to his family and hope they can find some comfort in knowing he left the world a better place." Still, fans were curious how Ripa really felt, given her often complicated relationship with Philbin.

After all, Regis helped turn Kelly Ripa from a television performer into a television star. In the 1990s, All My Children cemented her as a reliable soap opera star, but Ripa's career easily could've been caught in limbo if she didn't branch out into other opportunities. Kelly wasn't the only one in need of a change either.

It's easy to forget that 2000 was a tense time for both of them. Regis' longtime partner-in-crime Kathie Lee Gifford chose to depart, ending a 12-year coupling of the biggest duo in daytime TV. Live searched far and wide for a suitable replacement, auditioning everyone from Lisa Rinna to Rosie O'Donnell.

However, the less tested Kelly Ripa emerged from the pack. Live with Regis and Kelly picked up right where the old incarnation left off, with Ripa's presence pulling in a much younger demographic to boot. It was a dream job for her, though she learned there were some snags to working with the old-school Philbin.

He had some strange rules and habits. For starters, while on the set, he refused to speak to Ripa when the cameras weren't rolling! She later explained, "He had almost a superstition about it. You save it for the show. I’d be like, ‘Good morning,’ and he’d say, ‘Save it for the air!'"

Granted, there might've been something to Regis' superstition. He and Ripa lit up the screen together. Every day gave way to a moment of TV magic, whether the pair was starting a pie fight or trying to break the Guinness world record for the fastest instance of duct-taping someone (Regis) to a wall.

Even outside of high-production segments, the banter between the two hosts was thrilling to watch. Their chit-chat would veer into unexpected detours. They slipped in clever jabs at each other. In fact, some viewers believed that outside of this schtick, there was some genuine tension between Regis and Kelly.

For one thing, Kelly was always facing an uphill climb in replacing Kathie Lee. Regis and her predecessor were close personal friends, while Ripa was the young upstart who — for better or worse — changed up the dynamic of Live and pulled some of the limelight away from Philbin. The truth about their clashes didn't come out until years later.

Kelly and Regis were consummate professionals for a decade, but that image began to fracture when Regis announced he was leaving the talk show in 2011. There are conflicting accounts about what exactly brought about the decision and who was most hurt by Philbin's absence.

On one hand, some of these rumors might have been pure speculation. Master radio provocateur Howard Stern wasn't shy about sharing his theory. "Kelly (Ripa) I don’t think likes Regis. That’s the thing. They have a war," he claimed. And his co-host Robin Quivers claimed she'd heard that Philbin hadn't departed by his own free will.

But if someone forced Regis out, the gossip pointed to the fact that it wasn't Ripa. As a matter of fact, both hosts let it slip that Kelly felt somewhat abandoned by his sudden departure. She feared that the entire show would go up in smoke.

"I just remember when Regis left it was so scary,” Kelly admitted. “Because we – meaning me – had never done this before. Regis had done it many times, and he was so good at it. It makes you terrified. Like can I do this without Regis being here?" And those hard feelings may have caused a permanent rift.

On a Larry King Live appearance in 2017, Regis didn't shy away when his former TV counterpart came up. He explained his take: "She got very offended when I left. She thought I was leaving because of her. I was leaving because I was getting older and it wasn’t right for me anymore."

Philbin then told King that he and Ripa didn't stay in touch. However, while this revelation about their crumbling relationship might have been largely true, other reports say that Regis lied about his departure. Fellow ABC talk personality Jimmy Kimmel went on the record to say, "No, Regis didn’t leave on his own accord."

Fans might never stop fighting about the real reason why Regis stepped back from his legendary show, but there is one irrefutable fact we can take from the entire saga: Regis Philbin meant a great deal to Kelly Ripa. Even if they did clash at times, Kelly made it clear after his death that he was an important person in her life.

Ripa elaborated on her feelings on-air with Ryan Seacrest: "As people get older, you always know that certain things are inevitable, and passing away is one of those things, but Regis is one of the people that we all believed would somehow figure out a way around the inevitable," she emotionally said. "It was not in the cards, I suppose." Then, she shared what made him so special.

Even if she and Regis disagreed at times, Kelly appreciated that he was a great communicator — even he wasn't expected to be. While he didn't usually converse with Ripa on-set, Philbin was incredibly welcoming when her family came around. She marveled over his "ability to talk to kids like they were adults."

Besides that personal touch, Regis mentored Kelly and prepared her for the national spotlight. "I think my biggest takeaway from the 11 years that I shared with him was that you have to be yourself," Ripa reflected. "You cannot be one person on camera and a different person once the light goes off or the audience is gone; you have to be who you are."

That lesson has certainly paid dividends given Ripa's subsequent success on Live — whether hosting with Ryan Seacrest, Michael Strahan, or solo. She's been understandably careful whenever Regis comes up in interviews, but the testament of his other longtime partner helps flesh out the man behind the legend.

Kathie Lee Gifford recalled the first and last time she interacted with Regis. Surprisingly, their story didn't begin on the set of Live. In June 1985, a wide-eyed Kathie Lee Johnson stepped center stage alongside Philbin for the first time to serve as the replacement co-host of the New York local talk show The Morning Show.

Despite the 32-year-old rookie and 54-year-old veteran being dubbed "mismatched" by some media outlets, Regis and Kathie Lee's chemistry was immediate. Ratings soared behind the duo's playful back-and-forth, an aspect of the program executive producer Michael Gelman knew could be a major selling point to audiences.

"The real concept of the show, in a symbolic sense, is that they are husband and wife," he revealed. "They have their coffee mugs and they're chit-chatting about what's going on." But as The Morning Show reached number one in the market, it was clear the appeal of Regis and Kathie Lee went beyond just New Yorkers.

And so, the show was nationally syndicated in 1988, taking on the name of Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee. Millions of Americans joined the dynamic duo each morning for interviews, trivia, and lifestyle segments, though it was the first 15 minutes of ad-lib between Regis and Kathie Lee that really resonated with audiences.

"Everything on television these days is either written or over-rehearsed and there isn't room for the smaller things in life that everybody goes through," Regis said. "People relate to that, and they find those small little stories so appealing that they want to tune in the next day to find out what happened last night."

One popular topic during these signature "Host Chats" was their personal lives, especially Kathie Lee's. The bubbly host would gush over home and family life with her sportscaster husband Frank Gifford — unfortunately, this topic soon turned from one of great pride to one of scandal.

In 1997, it was revealed that Frank had been engaging in a number of extramarital affairs, sending news outlets into a frenzy. The media circus weighed heavily on Kathie Lee both personally and professionally, though, through it all, she always knew she could look to Regis for support.

"[They] were the most painful times of my life, for sure. But I always knew Regis had my back. He always protected me on the air," she told People. "I was never going to let what the world said about me define me. And he always supported me in all of that."

Yet the intense media scrutiny eventually became too much for Kathie Lee, and on July 28, 2000, she made her emotional departure from Live after 15 years on the show. Fortunately, that wouldn't be the end of America's most beloved talk show duo.

During Regis' ten years opposite Kelly Ripa on Live! with Regis and Kelly, Kathie Lee made three guest appearances — first to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary in 2007 and then again to promote her book in 2009. She was even there to bid Regis farewell before his own departure from the show in 2011.

Regis returned the favor a year later, appearing on Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda for a brief chat with his former co-host. Most people assumed these occasional reunions were just to drum up viewership, but those close to the pair knew the truth: Regis and Kathie Lee were true friends.

The two were often seen out and about in New York City and Los Angeles, usually grabbing a bite to eat together one-on-one. Regis even revealed in 2015 that he and his wife, Joy, regularly visited Kathie Lee and Frank at their Connecticut home, calling themselves "weekenders" at the Gifford residence.

That same year, Regis was the one to induct Kathie Lee into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame, telling the audience, "She's one of those ladies you don't meet in this business. She's smart. She's beautiful. She can handle anything that comes her way, and I just think she's terrific."

Then, when Kathie Lee stepped down from The Today Show in 2018, Regis was once again there with heartfelt words for his dear friend: "Kathie Lee, you want to know the best part of my life, my TV life, was in the 15 years I spent with you from 1985 to 2000."

Sadly, he wouldn't be around to see Kathie Lee into this new chapter of her life, for on July 24, 2020, Regis died of a heart attack at his Greenwich, Connecticut, home. Hollywood was devastated by the loss of the legendary television host, but for Kathie Lee, the hurt ran much deeper.

That's because Regis, Joy, and Kathie Lee had "laughed [themselves] sick" on Kathie Lee's back porch just two weeks prior. "After they left, I thought to myself, 'Lord, is that the last time I am going to see my friend?'" she recalled on Today. "Because he was failing. I could tell."

But following Regis' passing, Kathie Lee learned her final moments with her longtime friend had meant more to him than she knew: "It was so precious because when I talked to Joy the day I found out right after he had passed, she said, 'Kathie, he hadn't laughed in a long, long time.'"

"[Joy] said, 'The day we came to have lunch with you was the last time I heard him laugh,'" she continued. "That will forever be a precious gift the Lord gave me, that I got to laugh again with one of my best friends in all of my lifetime."

Tributes poured out by the millions for the late, great Regis, though, unsurprisingly, Kathie Lee's struck the most heartfelt chord: "We spent 15 years together bantering and bickering and laughing ourselves silly — a tradition and a friendship we shared up to this very day. I smile knowing somewhere in Heaven, at this very moment, he’s making someone laugh."

Regis Philbin's death is yet another in a long, long list of reasons the year 2020 really hasn't panned out the way most people expected. Yet between all the chaos that's capped off this new decade, we actually lost a handful of other legendary celebrities that most people never even realized were gone.