Regis Philbin's legacy lives on.
During a recent appearance on What What Happens Live, which aired on Sept. 29, Kathie Lee Gifford spoke with Andy Cohen about her late friend. As fans may recall, she and "The Reg" co-hosted the daytime talk show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee for 15 years before Kathie left the show in 2001.
"Every day was fun with Regis. He was bigger than life. No one talks about themselves by their own name," she said to Andy. "He would enter any room—whether it was a huge auditorium or just him and me going to lunch—he would enter going ‘Regis is here!'"
It was announced on Friday, July 24 that the iconic television host passed away at the age of 88 due to natural causes.
Kathie continued, "It was always a party with Reg. He lived to make everybody happy. I think that's why ultimately he was ready to go from his world. He couldn't go anywhere and be Regis. He couldn't make people happy anymore."
The 67-year-old actress also remembered talking to Regis' wife of 50 years Joy Philbin after his death. "She says, ‘Kathie that day we came to have lunch with you two weeks ago…that was the last time I heard him laugh,'" Kathie shared. "That was a sweet gift from god that I would make my friend laugh."
She added that her dear friend "lived the most extraordinary life and made so many millions of people happy and made so many millions of dollars in the process."