One of the longest-running talk shows on TV, Live! offers a light-hearted combo of current
events discussion, host banter, and celebrity interviews.
For millions, it's as much of a part of their morning routine as coffee and toast.
And while the show is, by design, an hour of fluff, sometimes the lightweight fare gets
dark and messy.
Here are some of the most cringeworthy Live! moments ever.
Kelly's awkward return
In 2016, ABC announced that then-Live! co-host Michael Strahan would be leaving the show,
and heading to Good Morning America.
But CNN reported Strahan allegedly first told co-host Kelly Ripa about it less than half
an hour before the news went public.
Ripa was so upset that she didn't show up for work.
"I'm leavin this show...I know.
To go to GMA full time"
But when Ripa returned to Live! the following week, it wasn't business as usual.
"Our long national nightmare is over"
Ripa delivered a long, serious speech about her frustration over how she found out her
co-host was leaving.
"I needed a couple of days to gather my thoughts.
After 26 years with this company, I earned the right"
Ripa added that "apologies [had] been made" and that, despite it all, she was genuinely
happy for Michael.
"I am thrilled for Michael.
I am thrilled for you.
This is a tremendous opportunity"
Strahan, who was on set the whole time, got an ear-full of the entire speech.
Way too close for comfort
Nicki Minaj has one of the most celebrated backsides in showbiz, but that doesn't mean
you can look with your hands.
In 2010, Minaj performed her hit "Right Thru Me" on Live! and afterward, Philbin went way
off-script.
"...You're wearing pink because in honor of pink Friday, I think you're so cute.
I love it."
"Well thank you very much.
This looks like you got a little strap around you there, you know what I mean?"
"Regis!"
Kelly blurted out what everyone was thinking:
"What just happened?"
But that wasn't the first time Philbin got sleazy on the show.
When singer Alicia Keys guest hosted Live! in 2004, Philbin asked for a kiss, and also
pronounced her name wrong.
"C'mon Alisha!"
"You won't go to jail will you?"
"We'll make em real jealous, we'll make em real jealous"
"Aahhhhhh"
Um, gross much?
"He's always wanted to do that."
"I love to kiss a poet."
"Now I have to go to the hospital, to check everything out."
Kelly defends her co-host
Now co-host of Live!, Ryan Seacrest also remains a fixture on E!
But in November 2017, a lawyer representing stylist Suzie Hardy sent a letter to E!'s
parent company accusing Seacrest of abuse and harassment during the six years she worked
with the host.
An anonymous insider corroborated Hardy's claims, telling Today,
"She would go to tie his shoe and Ryan would shove her head toward his crotch.
I saw that more than once."
Seacrest was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, due to a lack of sufficient evidence in an
internal investigation.
And on a 2018 episode of Live!, Kelly Ripa defended her co-host.
"I just want you to know, you are a privilege to work with and I adore you"
She continued,
"I know what an easy, professional, great person you are and I feel very, very lucky
to work with you each and every day."
In light of everything, awkward.
A bun in the oven
After Kathie left Live! in 2000, the show invited All My Children star Kelly Ripa to
come audition for her spot.
Ripa's Live! tryout began on November 1st, 2000, with guest psychic Char Margolis, who
got a very good read on Ripa.
First, she acknowledged Ripa's late grandmother, then she dropped a bombshell:
"She's going to watch over you when this new baby comes…It's soon, it's not far away."
"Excuse me uh, are you expecting?"
After gathering herself, Ripa blurted out,
"I haven't told my boss yet!"
Fake news about Meryl Streep
In 2009, Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep was a guest on the show to promote her movie,
Julie and Julia.
And her visit was more than a little awkward.
First, Philbin incorrectly asked Streep about her "four daughters."
"So many exciting things happening in your house.
You had all those...four daughters?
I have three daughters and my son"
Then, he suddenly declared,
"And then the third daughter broke her leg!
I mean it never ends in your place!"
"What?"
"No."
It turned out Philbin had read the cue card wrong.
"Daughter Grace just got her big break.
Well, I was close!
What do you want!"
Regis gets into punk
If you watch Live! all the way to the end of the episode, you might just catch a musical
performance.
But probably the most unlikely band to ever guest on the show was the Ramones, the New
York punk icons best known for hard-charging, noisy hits.
Yet in 1988, the band sat down for an interview on the show.
"So here are the Ramones"
Hosts Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford were game, and the Ramones were polite, but
it was still a trip to watch two worlds collide.
"So Dee Dee you're happy aren't you?
Yes I am.
Oh that's good.
He's jolly.
He's a jolly kinda guy"