At 78 years old, Regis Philbin has celebrated many television milestones before our eyes. One of the oldest (but not nearly the most befuddled) talking heads on the small screen, the Reege set the Guinness World Record for "Most Hours on Camera" in 2004, rang in his 30 year anniversary of his syndicated morning show last year, and only jumbled a few names while hosting the red carpet arrivals for the 80th Academy Awards in 2008. As the hardest working septuagenarian in television approaches the end of his contract, reports are surfacing that the host, who has admitted to suffering from retirement anxiety in the past, is finally ready to vacate his seat next to Kelly Ripa, and that ABC has already found his replacement. So just which male personality is rumored to succeed the Reege in 2011?
While reports over the past two years have frequently cited Howie Mandel and Ryan Seacrest as candidates, the National Enquirer reported last Monday that Anderson Cooper will join Ripa once Philbin's contract runs out. The CNN commentator has frequently filled in for Philbin in the past four years, proving his adeptness at everything from perky interviews to fitness demos to appetizer prep segments.