For Kelly Ripa, Regis Philbin seemed like someone who would live forever.
However, as fans around the world learned over the weekend, the legendary TV host died at 88 years old following an iconic career spanning decades.
“We are deeply saddened to share that our beloved Regis Philbin passed away last night of natural causes, one month shy of his 89th birthday,” the Philbin family said in a statement to E! News on Saturday. “His family and friends are forever grateful for the time we got to spend with him–for his warmth, his legendary sense of humor, and his singular ability to make every day into something worth talking about. We thank his fans and admirers for their incredible support over his 60-year career and ask for privacy as we mourn his loss.”
One of those fans, admirers and famously his co-host for a decade was Ripa, who reflected on the great loss on Monday’s remote episode of Live with Kelly and Ryan.
Ripa recalled to Ryan Seacrest that she was fortunately with her family over the weekend when she heard of his passing. “Mark [Consuelos] and I were lucky enough to have all of our children with us this past weekend on Saturday,” the mom of three told him. “We were all together when we heard this horrible news.”
Becoming emotional, she said, “As people get older, you always know that certain things are inevitable and passing away is one of those things, but Regis is one of the people that we all believed, I think, would somehow figure out a way around the inevitable…It was not in the cards, I suppose.”
