Kelly Ripa is speaking out about her alleged feud with former “Live!” co-host Regis Philbin, admitting that there were “bad days” on the set of their top-rated talk show.
Philbin — who passed away in 2020 at the age of 88 — spent 13 years co-hosting ABC’s “Live!” alongside Kathie-Lee Gifford before Ripa was brought in as her replacement in 2001.
Ripa, 51, subsequently spent 10 years on the program with Philbin before his departure in 2011, with the pair constantly plagued by rumors that they hated one another.
Speaking with People on Monday, Ripa opened up about her “complicated” relationship with Philbin. “I don’t want to feel like I’m slamming anyone or that I’m being disrespectful. But I also want people to know it was not a cakewalk,” she told the outlet.
“It took years to earn my place there and earn things that are routinely given to the men I worked with — including an office and a place to put my computer,” she further declared.
Ripa addressed rumors that Philbin didn’t want her to replace Gifford on the show, stating: “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.”
After getting the call that she had been hired as a co-host, Ripa claims she was warned by her agent that she would be playing second fiddle to Philbin, who had helmed the show for more than a decade.
The small screen star told People that she recalled her agent stating: “They want you to know who your boss is.”
“It was very ominous, and it did not feel good,” she admitted.
On her first day as a new hire, Ripa says her relationship with Philbin started off on the wrong foot.
The blonde was ordered not to bring an “entourage” to the set, but she showed up with a make-up artist and a hairstylist — much to Philbin’s upset.
“I came with hair and makeup,” the bubbly blonde admitted. “It was not an unusual thing for people on a television show to show up with.”
However, she claims Philbin greeted her and the show’s executive producer, Michael Gelman, with a deadpan greeting: “Uh-oh, Gelman, it’s got an entourage.”
Ripa told People that Philbin’s remark “felt horrible.” “He was probably trying to be funny, but at the same time it felt like a pile-on,” she said.
Still, the pair spent a decade on the small screen together before Philbin announced his retirement in 2011.
In 2017, Philbin told Larry King that Ripa was “very offended” when he announced he was leaving the show. “She thought I was leaving because of her. I was leaving because I was getting older and it was not right for me anymore,” he told King at the time.
Philbin also admitted he had barely spoken to Ripa in the six years since his departure and that he had “never” been asked to return to the show.
Addressing those remarks, Ripa told People on Monday, “The show had reached out many times. It makes me sad but it’s not something I will ever understand. I was steadfast in my attempt at communication. You can’t make a person befriend you.”
However, Ripa insists there were also “good days” working with Philbin on “Live!” and says their relationship was less strained outside of work.
The star says she “enjoyed” the “handful of times” they spent together away from the show’s set.
“We went to the same resort once on vacation and he came to a dinner I hosted— one of the favorite nights of my life,” she stated. “I never laughed so hard.”
She also paid tribute to Philbin’s TV talents, telling People: “If I could become a tenth as good, I’d be happy. It’s taking the audience on a ride with you and remembering that you are always the butt of the joke.”
“I loved him,” she subsequently declared, “and I still do.”
Ripa has remained on “Live!” since Philbin’s departure, with Ryan Seacrest currently serving as her co-host.
The TV star is set to reveal more juicy details about her relationship with Philbin in her forthcoming memoir “Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories,” on sale tomorrow.
Elsewhere in the book, Ripa reveals that she once passed out during sex with her husband, Mark Consuelos.
