Regis Philbin Talks Losing Touch With Kelly Ripa: 'She Got Very Offended When I Left'

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Michael Strahan wasn’t the first co-host to leave Kelly Ripa upset. The 46-year-old host of Live With Kelly! used to sit alongside TV staple Regis Philbin on Live With Regis and Kelly!

In a new interview with Larry King, Philbin, 85, talks his relationship with Ripa and how she wasn’t too pleased with him exiting the show in 2011.


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When King asked Philbin if he keeps in touch with Ripa, the on-camera veteran replied, “Not really, no.”

He also noted that the show “never once” asked him to return to guest host for the day.

“She got very offended when I left. She thought I was leaving because of her,” Philbin claimed of Ripa. “I was leaving because I was getting older and that wasn’t right for me anymore.”

Philbin thinks that Ripa took his exit very personally, noting, “That was 11 years ago, and I…”

“Haven’t heard?” King offered.

“Never have,” Philbin said.

However, according to Dave Davis, President and General Manager of WABC, Philbin has been asked back to Live! and even appeared on the show recently. "It was wonderful to have Regis on the show for our 2015 Halloween special," Davis tellst ET. "He’s also been invited back several times as a guest, and in fact was confirmed for a date, but was not able to make it at the time."

King went on to question Philbin as to whether he would ever return to a hosting gig.

“I don’t know. How often would it be? Would it be every night? Every day?” Philbin responded. “I do miss it. There are times when I really miss it and wish I’d never stopped. But, you know, I just figured it was time to let go.”

Philbin’s final episode of Live With Regis and Kelly! aired in 2011 and he was replaced in 2012 by Strahan. The former football star made headlines in April 2016 when he exited the show for a role on Good Morning America. At the time Ripa had not been informed of the decision before it went public.

WATCH: Kelly Ripa Calls Anderson Cooper Her 'Man Crush Monday' as He Returns to Co-Host 'Live!'


Strahan addressed the fallout in an interview with People magazine in September 2016, saying, "At one point I think we were friends. I don't know what happened at the end. I learned a lot from her, though."

For more on Ripa, watch the clip below!

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