Kelly Ripa Pays Tribute To The Late Regis Philbin In Emotional Live Segment (Video)

Kelly Ripa isn’t done honoring her former Live co-host, Regis Philbin.

As you likely know, the TV legend passed away on Saturday of natural causes at the age of 88, and Ripa was one of many who took to social media to pay tribute to him. But at the start of Monday’s episode of Live, the 49-year-old had more to say about her late mentor, co-star, and friend.

While speaking to current co-host Ryan Seacrest, she said:

“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. It was not in the cards, I suppose.”

Ripa — who co-hosted Live with Regis from 2000 to 2011 — recalled the moment she learned of the icon’s passing, admitting “the first person” she thought of was his wife of 50 years, Joy.

The All My Children alum went on to remember Regis as having an “ability to talk to kids like they were adults” and noted that she and husband Mark Consuelos’ three kids “just worshipped him,” adding:

“They don’t make them like Regis anymore.”

They sure don’t.

After the news initially broke over the weekend, Kelly and Ryan both shared the same statement and image to their respective Instagram accounts, writing:

“We are beyond saddened to learn about the loss of Regis Philbin. He was the ultimate class act, bringing his laughter and joy into our homes everyday on Live for more than 23 years. We were beyond lucky to have him as a mentor in our careers and aspire everyday to fill his shoes on the show. We send our deepest love and condolences to his family and hope they can find some comfort in knowing he left the world a better place.”

The team behind Live also paid tribute to the NBC star, saying in a statement:

“Our hearts are broken to learn the news about Regis’ passing. Regis originated ‘Live’ as a local New York broadcast back in 1983, and for more than 28 years he poured his heart and soul into the show. Many of the members of our staff began their careers at “Live” with Regis, and were lucky enough to learn from a master broadcaster. Our hearts go out to Joy and his family.”

So do ours. R.I.P. Regis.

Watch the clip (below) to hear what else Kelly had to say.