New kiss-and-tell queen Cybill Shepherd says she’s ready, willing and definitely able to jump into Kathie Lee Gifford’s shoes as Regis Philbin’s morning sidekick.
“I would consider it a great privilege,” Shepherd told The Post yesterday. “I adore Regis. He’s one of the funniest, warmest and best people that have ever been on television.”
The sassy blonde – who’s scored high marks making the talk-show rounds to hawk her tell-all book “Cybill Disobedience” – is certainly no stranger to TV.
She starred in her own sitcom, “Cybill,” for years and made a big splash on the ’80s detective show “Moonlighting” with Bruce Willis.
The fiftyish Shepherd even claims that Oprah once asked her to fill in as a guest host.
“I was still doing my show, so I had to turn her down,” she said.
“A talk show is something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Shepherd said.
She said the “without a net” feel of live TV wouldn’t faze her either.
“I thrive on the live,” she said. “I started doing live talk shows 30 years ago. And I did them really badly for about 10 years – I would either talk too much, like an idiot, or not talk at all because I was too terrified.”
But Shepherd says her talk-show finesse was honed when she met the late, great Orson Welles.
“He said, ‘It’s easy – all you have to do is talk to your host, ignore the cameras and the audience and have a conversation.'”
The biggest roadblock she faces – aside from not yet hearing from Regis or “Live” officials – would be moving her 12-year-old twin boys (Ariel and Zachariah) out of school in Los Angeles to New York City, where the daily show originates.
Still, the notion of stepping into a role perfected by Gifford has Shepherd a little awed.
“[Kathie Lee’s] brilliant. She’s not only warm, but she’s also funny. The two of them don’t go for your throat, but they never miss going for a laugh in the very best sense, in the old-timey way of comedy,” Shepherd said.
Despite Shepherd’s misgivings, some high-ranking industry insiders think she would be a perfect match for Regis.
“Women identify with her as ‘She pulled through it, and she gives me hope that I can be 40 and fabulous,'” a prominent network official said.
“Wouldn’t it be fun if he had someone who emerged as an over-sexed, hormone-replacement-therapy poster girl? Just think of how embarrassed he’d be if his co-host was a little too horny all the time – and she’s funny.
“Whoever gets the job has to be someone with a lot of self-effacing humor. She probably could tell Reg when he’s getting too big for his britches,” the official said.