Hours after Regis Philbin announced that he is retiring, co-host Kelly Ripa was still having trouble imagining “Live With Regis and Kelly” without him.
“While I realize that nothing is forever, still I had always hoped there would be an exception,” Ripa, 40, said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. “I can’t overstate what Regis has brought to the table.”
Philbin, 79, revealed his shocking news during yesterday’s host-chat segment of “Regis and Kelly.”
“I’ve got one of those announcements to make today,” he said. “This will be my last year on this show. It’s been a long time. It’s been 28 years since I’ve been here. And it was the biggest thrill of my life to come back to New York, where I grew up as a kid, watching TV in the early days and never even dreaming that I would one day have whatever it takes to get in front of a camera and talk to it.”
Philbin added, “There is a time when everything must come to an end for certain people on camera — especially certain old people!” He will sign off from “Live” sometime at the end of the summer or early fall.
“His chair might soon be empty,” Ripa told the Hollywood Reporter, “but the wonderful moments I have experienced with him over the past 10 years will always make him a meaningful part of my life.”
