Regis Philbin says he and 'Live' host Kelly Ripa don't talk: 'She got very offended when I left'
In a recent interview on "Larry King Now," former "Live" cohost Regis Philbin said that Ripa didn't take his retirement very well.
In response to King's question as to whether Philbin keeps in touch with Ripa, Philbin answered, "Not really, no," before adding some explanation.
"She got very offended when I left," Philbin, 85, said. "She thought I was leaving because of her. I was leaving, because I was getting older. It wasn't right for me anymore."
Philbin left the syndicated daytime talk show in 2011 after cohosting it for 23 years. Ripa replaced Kathie Lee Gifford when she left the show in 2000.
Philbin also claimed in the Larry King interview that "never once did they ask me to go back [on the show]."
But as the New York Post's Page Six reported, Philbin and Gifford appeared on the Halloween episode of "Live" in 2015. On the episode, Ripa hugged Philbin and invited him to her home to see her kids.
In a statement to Page Six, Dave Davis, the president and general manager of WABC, which produces "Live," said that Philbin has been asked to appear on the show "several times" and declined offers.
"It was wonderful to have Regis on the show for our 2015 Halloween special," Davis said. "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."
Ripa famously went M.I.A. in April of last year for several days after Strahan announced he would be leaving "Live" to join ABC's "Good Morning America." Ripa said she was blindsided by the announcement and angry over how it was handled by producers and ABC. Since then, she has been joined by a revolving list of guest cohosts, presumably vying for the opportunity to fill Strahan's position.
Watch Philbin discuss Ripa's reaction to his retirement from "Live" below: