Inside Kelly Ripa and Kathie Lee Gifford’s Relationship: Everything They’ve Said About Each Other

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Inside Kelly Ripa and Kathie Lee Gifford's Relationship: Everything They've Said About Each Other

Feuding or friendly? Fans have speculated about Kathie Lee Gifford and Kelly Ripa's relationship since the latter took over as Regis Philbin's Live! cohost in 2001. The former Today contributor began working with the late Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host in 1985, when they co-anchored The Morning Show for New York City's ABC station. Three years later, the series went into national broadcast, and it was retitled Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee. The duo were staples of morning TV for more than 20 years until Gifford left the show in July 2000. There were rumors at the time that her exit happened because of a feud with Philbin, but the Listen to My Heart author later revealed that she actually left the series to care for her ailing father, Aaron Epstein, who died in 2002. “My daddy was dying, and I was not comfortable making it public,” the Daytime Emmy winner told the New York Post in August 2007. “I knew it was going to be a horrendous family experience. I just had to have that time with him without cameras in my face and without having to explain things. I wanted my daddy to be able to die with the dignity in which he had lived his life.” [jwplayer mmcgs91t-zhNYySv2] After Gifford's exit, Philbin began holding on-air auditions to find her replacement. Ripa initially tried out in November 2000 and was announced as the show's permanent cohost in February 2001. The New Jersey native was best known at the time for her role on the long-running soap opera All My Children. "The biggest misconception is that it all came easily," Ripa wrote of her early days at Live! in her 2022 memoir, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories. "People think I just showed up one day and was handed a job and I lived happily ever after and now everything's perfect. But it never is that way." The Broad City alum added that she worked incredibly hard to "earn" respect at the talk show. “There were good and bad days. I don’t want to feel like I’m slamming anyone or that I’m being disrespectful. But I also want people to know it was not a cakewalk," she wrote. “It took years to earn my place there and earn things that are routinely given to the men I worked with." Gifford, for her part, joined the Today show in 2008, cohosting the fourth hour with Hoda Kotb. She also occasionally returned to her old stomping grounds at Live!, both before and after Philbin's July 2020 death at age 88. In October 2020, she appeared on Live! With Kelly and Ryan for the first time since her former cohost's passing. The date of her appearance happened to fall on Ripa's 50th birthday, so she began her interview by sending her best wishes to the Hope & Faith alum. "Happy birthday, darling," Gifford said. "Enjoy it. Enjoy 50. It goes by so fast." Keep scrolling for everything Gifford and Ripa have said about each other over the years.

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February 2001

After Ripa took over on Live!, she told Entertainment Weekly that she had big shoes to fill. "I don’t think there’s any replacing her,” she said of Gifford. ”She’s a singer and a dancer, and she’s gorgeous.” Gifford, for her part, told The New York Times that she was "impressed" by Ripa's debut, adding, "I think she's got the right combination of sparkle and sass." In August 2007, Gifford told the New York Post that she thought Ripa had adjusted "beautifully" in her role as Philbin's cohost.

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April 2008

When Gifford landed her gig on Today, Ripa told People that she was "so happy" the former Live! star would be back on morning TV. "I’m so excited for her,” Ripa gushed. “Everybody’s like, ‘Have you ever met her?’ I’m like, 'Met her? I know her intimately!' I’m so happy for her. ... She’s very influential in my life. I saw her doing it all — a working mom. She had a big impact on me."

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November 2011

Philbin discussed rumors of a feud between Ripa and Gifford in his autobiography, How I Got This Way. “Naturally, everyone likes to ask how did Kathie and Kelly get along when they met after the eventual changing of the guard in the cohost seat? Well, I’d like to tell you that there was always that underlying tension between them — especially over me! — and that it was just a matter of time before there would be screams and slaps and calls to the police to break it up," he wrote. “Nope. Kathie Lee sent Kelly flowers on her first day, and it’s always remained a very warm and cordial dynamic between them.”

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October 2020

Ripa gushed over Gifford when reflecting on her own 20th anniversary as the Live! cohost. “I am the girl that when Kathie Lee left, thought, ‘Whoever takes over for her, I feel sorry for her. Nobody can do that job,’” Ripa told Variety. “I never in my wildest thought process thought it would be me.”

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October 2022

After Ripa released Live Wire, Gifford said she wouldn't read it because of what her colleague wrote about Philbin. “I was very sorry to see the headlines,” Gifford told Good Day New York’s Rosanna Scotto. “You know, you never know what’s true and what’s not true. I went, ‘I hope this isn’t true. I just hope it isn’t.’ 'Cause what’s the point? I don’t get it. I don’t get it.” The TV producer added that she hoped her former cohost's wife, Joy Philbin, and children didn't see Ripa's comments. “Lord, protect Joy and the girls from this,” Gifford said. “In all the years I’ve known him, I never saw him unkind to anyone. I never did. I’m just saying my reality is something completely different from that.”