Kelly Ripa Reveals There Was Drama With ‘Live’ Cohost Regis Philbin From Day One

In her new book, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories, Kelly opens up about her relationship with the late Regis Philbin, who died in 2020 of natural causes.

Before landing the gig alongside Regis, Kelly had three test runs as cohost of the show and was offered the job as the replacement for Kathie Lee Gifford, who departed the show after 15 years.

According to Kelly, when she arrived at the set her very first day with her hair and makeup team, she was greeted by a joke from Regis that made her feel “horrible.”

She recalled in her book that Regis turned to the show's executive producer, Michael Gelman, and said “Uh-oh, Gelman, it’s got an entourage.”

“He was probably trying to be funny,” Kelly wrote, “but at the same time it felt like a pile-on.

“I understand that probably he didn’t want a co-host, but the network wanted me to be the co-host and I didn’t think I should pass up that opportunity. I don’t think it was fair to him. But it was also not fair to me.”

On writing about the show, Kelly told People that she doesn’t want to feel like she’s “slamming anyone” or “being disrespectful,” but she just wants people to know it “wasn’t a cakewalk.”

Kelly isn’t the only one who spilled the details of their relationship — Regis wrote about her in his book, How I Got This Way, too. When writing about Kelly, however, the late show host only had good things to say.

"She could instinctively zero in on the funniest details," he wrote. "Which came out of nowhere and somehow hit a comic bull's eye. That knack of hers pretty instantly struck a chord with the audience."

Now Kelly remembers her time with Regis fondly, joking with People that if she could be “a tenth as good” as him, she’d be happy.