Kathie Lee Gifford is paying tribute to longtime partner in crime Regis Philbin.
Kathie Lee celebrated Regis' birthday Thursday, on what would’ve been his 91st birthday by acknowledging him and sharing words of love for his widow, Joy Philbin.
“I miss Regis every day,” she captioned a 1988 photo of the two of them on Twitter. “But this is a particularly difficult day as we remember this amazing man who would have been 91. Sending love to Joy and the rest of their family as they celebrate an extraordinary man and life.”
Regis, the Guinness World Records holder for most hours on U.S. TV, died in 2020 at the age of 88. He and Kathie Lee began co-hosting a New York morning show together in 1985, and the popular show eventually became nationally syndicated under the name “Live With Regis and Kathie Lee.” The two co-hosted the show together until 2000.
“There are no words to fully express the love I have for my precious friend, Regis. I simply adored him and every day with him was a gift,” Kathie Lee wrote on Instagram after her dear friend died. “We spent 15 years together bantering and bickering and laughing ourselves silly — a tradition and a friendship we shared up to this very day.”
She also honored Regis on his first birthday following his death.
“Today would have been our wonderful friend Regis Philbin’s 89th birthday,” she wrote on Twitter. “Sending heartfelt prayers and warmest wishes for peace and comfort to his beautiful family who miss him even more than we do.”
The former TODAY with Kathie Lee & Hoda co-host also mourned the loss of the television icon at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2021.
“For 15 years, it was my absolute joy and delight and honor and privilege to sit next to somebody that you might remember,” she said.
“Sure you do. His name was Regis Philbin and there was nobody like him. He was one of a kind, he was unique, he was an original, he was the most fun you could ever have with a human being. And I got to sit next to him and play verbal pingpong with him.”
“We all miss Regis, don’t we?” she added. “Because all he wanted to do was make people laugh, make them happy, make them believe in themselves, make them dream big dreams like he did because they can come true. I know we all miss him — I do, I’ll never be the same.”