A candid approach. Kelly Ripa did not hold back about her personal or professional life in her new book, Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories.

Before the memoir hit shelves on Tuesday, September 27, the actress opened up about the challenges of joining a live talk show. “I want people to understand that joining Live, from my perspective, was a terrifying venture. It was entering into a work environment that I did not understand,” she told Haute Living that same month. “I think had I gone in there now, I would have been fully equipped to handle it, but back then, I was not equipped in any sense of the word. And therefore, I did not protect myself the way I probably should have.”

The former soap star continued: “It was a different time, back then. It was a tabloid, journalistic, free-for-all, and there were systems in place there for a long time at the talk show that were not necessarily there to protect me.”

According to Ripa, her relationship with former cohost Regis Philbin had its ups and downs over the years. After working together for almost a decade, the comedian decided to leave Live in 2011. At the time, the former soap star recalled the pressure to take over on her own.

“The reality is that I would have traded places with him in a second. I was scared to death, and suddenly responsible for keeping our very popular show on the air, all by myself,” she wrote in her memoir. “In the years following his departure, Regis was invited back on the show many times, but always declined. So it was a genuine thrill and surprise when he finally relented and agreed to be on our annual Halloween show.”

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The pair were seemingly not able to work out their differences ahead of the Connecticut native’s death in 2020. In her book, Ripa reflected on the memory she chooses to carry of Philbin.

“It’s easy in a job like ours to lose sight of the things that are important. And sometimes I do. But the reality is I had a lot of fun over the years at my day job,” she shared. “I got to sit next to one of the greatest storytellers of all time. The few occasions I socialized with Regis outside the office, over the decade we worked together, I truly enjoyed. He was an even better storyteller in person. I think he would have said the same.”

Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories is available now. Scroll through for the biggest revelations:

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