Kathie Lee Gifford claimed that her friend and former co-star Regis Philbin was feeling depressed in his final months.
The 67-year-old Live! With Regis And Kathie Lee star opened up about spending time with the television icon before his death in July at age 88.
The host and actress told the ladies of The Talk on Friday that Regis’ depression seemed to have been brought on by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Feeling down: Kathie Lee Gifford, 67, claimed that her longtime friend Regis Philbin was depressed by the pandemic in the final months leading up to his death in July at age 88; shown in 2012
‘He had been depressed in the weeks and months earlier, because of [the pandemic],’ Kathie Lee said.
According to her, the isolation of the pandemic left the longtime television staple without the stimulation and socialization he craved.
‘Regis couldn’t perform anywhere, nobody was out and about. He couldn’t be Regis for people, and it broke his heart,’ she continued.
Adding to his possible depression at the time was a sense of loss after a friend died from COVID-19.
Out of his element: ‘Regis couldn’t perform anywhere, nobody was out and about. He couldn’t be Regis for people, and it broke his heart,’ she explained; still from Single Parents
Near and dear: Kathie Lee said that Regis’ wife Joy Senese told her that ‘one of his dearest friends had just recently died of COVID, so he was pretty much in a depression’
Kathie Lee said that Regis’ wife Joy Senese told her that ‘one of his dearest friends had just recently died of COVID, so he was pretty much in a depression.
‘Regis just lived to make people happy. He certainly made me happy for the 35 years that we were great friends,’ she said.
The Then Came You star also sounded touched to learn how important her final meeting with Regis had been.
‘Later after he passed, two weeks later, Joy told me that that was the last time she heard him laugh, was when he was at my house,’ she explained.
‘So, that was a sweet gift from God to me that he blessed that friendship even at the very end. There was nobody like him ever, and there will never be another like him, ever.’
Good times: ‘Later after he passed, two weeks later, Joy told me that that was the last time she heard him laugh, was when he was at my house,’ she said; shown with Joy Senese in 2016
Incomparable: Kathie Lee called that final meeting a ‘gift from God,’ adding that, ‘There was nobody like him ever, and there will never be another like him, ever’
During the interview, Kathie Lee also reiterated a statement she made shortly after Regis’ death that he had seemed particularly frail the last time she saw him, a departure from their previous meeting.
The two starred together on the morning talk show Live! With Regis And Kathie Lee from 1988–2000.
After she left the series, the longtime television staple hosted it for a year on his own with a rotation cast of guest hosts, before settling on Kelly Ripa for a replacement.
The two hosted the series together until his departure in 2011, and she currently hosts with Ryan Seacrest.
Changes: Regis and Kathie Lee hosted their morning talk show from 1988–2000. He hosted for a year with guest hosts before Kelly Ripa became the full-time replacement; shown in 2015
Though she’s best known as a TV personality, Kathie Lee recently showed off her acting chops in the romantic comedy film Then Came You, which she stars in opposite Craig Ferguson.
She stars in the film as a new widow traveling with her late husband’s ashes.
Her trip is complicated after she makes a stop in Scotland and falls in love with an inn keeper (Ferguson) who happens to already be engaged.
The film is currently available on VOD.
New role: Though she’s best known as a TV personality, Kathie Lee recently showed off her acting chops in the romantic comedy film Then Came You, which she stars in opposite Craig Ferguson
Source: Daily Mail
