By Della Hasselle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Regis Philbin, the longtime co-host of morning talk show "Regis and Kelly," announced live on his show Tuesday morning that he will step down from the show he made famous, according to several reports.
The 79-year-old veteran broadcaster made the surprise announcement at the top of the show Tuesday, signaling an end to his reign as the king of morning television hosts after 28 years on the show. He said his last show will come some time at the end of the summer.
"I don’t want to alarm anybody…but this will be my last year on the show," Philbin said. "There is a time that everything must come to an end for certain people on camera, especially certain old people."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg had nothing but praise for Philbin Tuesday.
"He’s a good guy," Bloomberg said. "He's as much New York as anybody."
"I every once and a while pinch myself that I know people like Regis Philbin," he said.
Regis began the show with a different co-host, Kathie Lee Gifford, who served as Regis' sidekick from 1985 to 2000, when the show was called "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee. Gifford is now the co-host of the Today Show.
The announcement triggered a wave of disappointed comments from across the Internet.
Some users bemoaned the recent spate of TV icons stepping down from their posts, including Oprah and Larry King.
"My Grandmother is in all kinds of a tizzy because of Regis Philbin retiring. 'First Larry King, then Oprah, now Regis??'" Twitter user @unlimitedjason wrote.
"He can't leave. He IS Regis & Kelly!" embosma Tweeted.
Viewers also made a point to let him know he'd be missed on Tuesday's show.
"Regis I just wanted to say how much you will be missed — what a great way to start the day," Kevin from New York said, according to a letter Regis read on the show.
Some viewers begged for a few last tidbits from the host before he left.
"We will all miss your smiling face but before you go you have to tell the honeymoon wedding story," Frank, also from New York, added.
Still, Regis said he's not completely done with TV yet.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to retire," he said, "I'm just moving on."
