effects of COVID-19 had hit Regis close to home, as well."One of his dearest friends had just recently died of Covid, so he was pretty much in a depression I think, his wife said," Kathie Lee said. "Regis just lived to make people happy.
He certainly made me happy for the 35 years that we were great friends."The TV icon died on July 25 at the age of 88."Later after he passed, two weeks later, Joy told me that that was the last time she heard him laugh, was when he was at my house," Kathie Lee said, referencing Regis' wife. "So, that was a sweet gift from God to me that he blessed that friendship even at the very end.