Regis' Bang Bang Heart Surgery

Regis Philbin announced that he will have triple bypass heart bypass surgery later this week.

The 75-year-old told his Live With Regis and Kelly audience on Monday’s show: “Well, listen, I gotta tell you something. … I had been feeling chest pains, you know, and, uh, shortness of breath and all those little symptoms that you hear about.”

Regis hoped to have angioplasty instead because “you know, you get in – bang, bang, bang – they blow it open and you leave the next day. But there’s some plaque in some arteries and I’ve got to get it cleaned out.”

Co-host Kelly Ripa offered to be his sponge bath nurse. How sweet!

Pictured is the last public event that Regis and his wife Joy attended. The couple attended the 2007 Vanity Fair Oscar Party at Mortons last month in West Hollywood, Calif.