Kelly Ripa shares the biggest lesson she learned from Regis Philbin
After more than a decade as co-hosts, it's no surprise Regis Philbin left quite an impact on Kelly Ripa.
In the wake of news that Philbin died Friday, July 24, of natural causes at the age of 88, Ripa is looking back on the important lessons he taught her for an upcoming "20/20" special, "Regis Philbin: The Morning Maestro."
"What I think my biggest takeaway from the 11 years that I shared with him was that you have to be yourself," she said in a preview of the tribute special.
"You cannot be one person on camera and a different person once the light goes off or the audience is gone, you have to be who you are," Ripa added.
Philbin and Ripa co-hosted "Live" together from 2001 until 2011, with Ripa replacing Kathie Lee Gifford and ultimately staying on after Philbin retired.
The special, which airs tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC, is the latest tribute to Philbin, an iconic TV personality who also hosted the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" from 1999 until 2002.
Ripa previously honored Philbin alongside her current "Live" co-host, Ryan Seacrest, on Monday, dedicating the entire hour-long episode to him.
"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 would somehow figure out a way around the inevitable," she emotionally shared. "It was not in the cards, I suppose."
The "All My Children" alum continued, "They don't make them like Regis anymore."
"Regis Philbin: The Morning Maestro" airs tonight at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
