John M Heller/Getty ImagesRegis Philbin is returning to television!
Two years since he left his cohost position on Live With Regis and Kelly, Philbin has landed a new gig as the host of Fox Sports 1's upcoming talk show Crowd Goes Wild, the NY Post reports. The daily live TV show will revolve around a panel that will be lead by Philbin.
"We've got a nice little panel of people together, a lot of friends," Philbin says about the show. "And if a celebrity like George Clooney comes to town with a movie, we'll play clips from his movie—but we'll also talk to George, who grew up in Cincinnati, about his sports roots, like if he's still a big Reds fan."
"I'm happy to be part of sports TV," the 81-year-old continued. "If you look at the ratings, that's what's on top. Sports is the biggest hit TV has these days. It's all there on the field, pal."
Crowd Goes Wild will air daily at 5 p.m. and will feature a roundtable of Philbin and five others, who have yet to be confirmed. However, Philbin say one will be an ex-NFL player."
As for his two-year break from television, Philbin dished, "I kind of enjoyed it, though I don't know how much [wife] Joy enjoyed it. There were times when I would get a little antsy, when I wondered what I could or should be doing."
Philbin's last episode of Live With Regis and Kelly aired back on Nov. 18, 2011. He had hosted the show for a whopping 28 years! "I'll always remember spending these morning will all of you," he said during his final show. "Thank you very much for these great years together, God bless you all, and I hope I'll see you again real soon."
In other TV talk show news, Keith Olbermann, whose Current TV show Countdown With Keith Olbermann was suddenly dropped by the network back in March, is reportedly in talks for his own late-night talk show on ESPN 2 in New York. Before working at Current TV and before his gig as a political commentator on MSNBC, Olbermann first worked as a sportscaster for ESPN from 1992 to 1997.