When Kelly Ripa released her first book titled Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories, she was prepared to receive a lot of criticism from numerous people for a variety of reasons. And while the overall consensus has been positive, she has certainly faced her fair share of criticism.
The latest is coming from Kathie Lee Gifford, who Ripa replaced as co-host alongside Regis Philbin in 2000. After seeing some of the headlines about the contents of the book – more specifically the chapters about Philbin – Gifford reportedly isn’t interested in reading it.
“I just know what Regis was to me. He was, for 15 years, the best partner a person could ever, ever have professionally, but he was my friend,” said Kathie Lee, adding he was never unkind to anyone. Philbin passed away on July 24, 2020 of natural causes, one month shy of turning 89.
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In the book, Kelly Ripa detailed her complicated relationship with Regis Philbin – a relationship everyone assumed was pitch-perfect. “People think I just showed up one day and was handed a job and I lived happily ever after and now everything’s perfect. But it never is that way,” she said.
She went on to explain how difficult it was for her to earn respect as co-host of the show – adding that it ‘took years to earn my place there and earn things that are routinely given to the men I worked with.’ She detailed the limited amount of eye contact between the two at first.
In wake of Kathie Lee Gifford’s comments about the book, Ripa is choosing to take the high road. “The comments I’ve gotten about those chapters have been overwhelmingly positive and the people who read the book took away a lot of positivity from it,” she said on a recent podcast.
Ripa explained how difficult it was to market a book, ultimately thanking Gifford for bringing some attention to the book’s release. “So I am a person that tends to take a negative and turn it into a positive. And so my ultimate comment is, thank you,” said Ripa, talking to Kathie Lee.
“It’s like really hard to get attention on a book that’s been out for a couple of weeks and now it’s week two, second week on The New York Times Best Sellers list. It’s like, thank you, because I think that people that read the book will have a very different take on the book,” Ripa continued.
Do Kelly Ripa and Kathie Lee Gifford Have a Bad Past?
When Kelly Ripa replaced Kathie Lee Gifford alongside Regis Philbin in 2000, many people expected – and some even hoped – there was a little tension between Ripa and Gifford. For years, people assumed the two didn’t like one another, though they never commented on it.
In 2011, Regis released his memoir titled How I Got This Way, he finally put that to rest. It turns out that Ripa and Gifford actually had a great relationship. It makes the recent tension between the two even more worth noting, considering it has been two years since Regis passed away.
“Naturally, everyone likes to ask how did Kathie and Kelly get along when they met after the eventual changing of the guard in the cohost seat? Well, I’d like to tell you that there was always that underlying tension between them — especially over me! — and that it was just a matter of time before there would be screams and slaps and calls to the police to break it up,” said Regis.
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“Nope. Kathie Lee sent Kelly flowers on her first day, and it’s always remained a very warm and cordial dynamic between them.” he concluded in his book. As for Kelly Ripa and her new book, it’s currently No. 3 on the New York Times Best Sellers list under the Nonfiction category.