Legendary TV personality Regis Philbin passed away over the weekend. The former Live! and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire host died peacefully in his sleep at 88-years-old. He was just one month shy of his 89th birthday.
Since Philbin's passing, famous friends and co-stars have been memorializing the beloved personality on social media. While his Live! co-host Kathie Lee Gifford paid tribute to Philbin on both Twitter and Instagram already, she also made an appearance on Today to properly honor her longtime friend. During her interview, Gifford recalled their many years of friendship, including her final meeting with Philbin just a few short weeks ago.
In her final meeting with Philbin, Gifford hosted her former co-star and his wife, Joy Philbin, at her Connecticut home for lunch. "I was just so grateful the Lord gave me that final time," Gifford said. "And it was so precious because when I talked to Joy the day that I found out right after he had passed, she said, 'Kathie he hadn't laughed in a long, long time.' She said, 'I was so worried about him.'"
Gifford compared Philbin's passing to that of her late husband Frank Gifford, who died in 2015 at the age of 84. "I think he was like Frank. He was just ready, you know?" Gifford explained. "[Joy] said, 'The day that we came to have lunch with you was the last time I heard him laugh.' That will forever be a precious gift the Lord gave me, that I got to laugh again with one of my best friends in all my lifetime."
During their last lunch, Gifford said she immediately noticed a difference in Philbin upon his arrival. "I sensed much more fragility than I'd seen in him since the last time in January out in Los Angeles," she recalled. "We sat right here on my screened porch, and we laughed ourselves sick. We always picked up right where we left off. After they left I just thought to myself, 'Lord, is that the last time I'm going to see my friend?' Because he was failing, I could tell."
"I don't know, something told me the other day, when I was in Tennessee, 'Get on a plane, and go home. Get on a plane.' And I didn't know why, but I've learned to listen to that voice," Gifford continued. "I got on the plane, came home and immediately heard the news about Regis, called Joy immediately and talked with her."
Gifford fondly remembered the "many, many conversations" she had with Philbin over the years about faith and what happens after death, which now give her a sense of peace during this difficult time. "I know where Regis is, and I know who he's with," she said. "He was very curious, as always, listened. We always respected each other's opinions so highly. You know, in all the years we were together, we never had one cross word."
"He was the most grateful person in the world. He never forgot where he came from, and he worked from the bottom up. He was just happy to be on a set. He just was always comfortable in his own skin and always felt like the luckiest guy in the world," Gifford said. When asked what she'd miss about her friend, Gifford simply said: "Everything."
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