I will tell you what, TV is as fake as politics. All of it’s a big show, hiding what’s really going on beneath the surface. It’s all about ratings and votes, isn’t it? The world we live in is one big “Truman Show.” And that brings me to the latest unveiling of the truth. I am sure you are familiar with the “Regis and Kelly Show” that aired for many years… Well, it turns out that the happy twosome team actually didn’t like one another… At all.
According to The New York Post, things got off to a really rocky start between the two of them.
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 telling her: “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.
The two did not socialize outside the set, and on set, they rarely spoke. It was definitely not a good vibe… and just kept getting worse.
Radar Online reported that Kelly Ripa has been promoting her new book by exposing behind the scene secrets of her feud with Regis Philbin —claiming he was rough to work with — but sources tell RadarOnline.com the late TV icon went to his grave deeply troubled over the many years he and Ripa barely spoke.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Ripa, 51, is on a press tour hawking her new book Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories.
Ripa has been dishing all about her old co-host Philbin and shared there were “bad days” on the set of ABC’s Live.
Philbin hosted the show with Kathie Lee Gifford from 1988 to 2000. Ripa took over for Gifford in 2001 and worked with Philbin until he retired in 2011.
After Philbin left, Michael Strahan took over his spot for a few years and famously did not get along with Ripa.
Gee, maybe Kelly Rippa is the problem?
Ryan Seacrest was then announced as Ripa’s new co-host in 2017.
While Philbin and his previous Live partner Kathie Lee Gifford remained close and chatted often, Philbin admitted in 2018 he and Ripa had not spoken since he left the show seven years earlier — and seemed saddened by the way they’d parted.
“She got very offended when I left [Live.] She thought I was leaving because of her,” Philbin said. “But I was leaving because I was getting older.”
Philbin later added he believed Kelly “resented” him for retiring, but he again insisted he only left because he felt it was time.
“I was just turning 80,” he explained.
Ripa released a heartfelt message upon Regis’s death, saying “He was the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes every day on Live for more than 23 years.”
But the petite powerhouse has also admitted when the cameras weren’t rolling, she didn’t gab much with her onscreen chum!
“Regis had a mandate: Absolutely no talking off-camera. 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!”
Well, it sounds like he missed Kathy Lee, and didn’t feel Kelly lived up to her. It also sounds like Kelly thought Regis was a fuddy-duddy who she had nothing in common with and had no desire to be his friend.
The whole show was a fraud.
This post originally appeared on WayneDupree.com.