TV celebrity Regis Philbin announced today that he will be undergoing bypass surgery later this week. The long-time host of the popular talk show "Live with Regis and Kelly" (which formerly featured Kathy Lee as co-host), stated that he has been suffering pains in his chest for quite some time and, at the behest of his doctors, has elected to go forward with the bypass.

Philbin explained in his very comedic, Regis way that he would have preferred to have done angioplasty (they way he put it "You know you get in, bang-bang-bang, they blow you open and you leave the next day"), it appears as though he has plaque in his arteries, which therefore make the bypass surgery necessary.

The recovery period for triple-bypass surgery is seldom quick, so it remains unknown how long Regis will be absent from his popular TV program.