Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa are Canada-bound this summer.
The stars of CTVs "Live! With Regis and Kelly" are packing their bags and travelling to Charlottetown, P.E.I. in July.
The co-hosts of North America's top morning talk show will broadcast from the city's historic Confederation Landing Park from July 12 – 15.
P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz, and tourism officials were in Charlottetown on Wednesday to hear Philbin and Ripa make the surprise announcement to their audience on Wednesday's show.
The partnership with the king and queen of morning banter will do more than merely entertain local fans, says Ghiz.
According to Minister of National Revenue Keith Ashfield, this strategic alliance offers "an unprecedented opportunity to build awareness of the Island as a travel and culinary destination."
For diehard fans, however, vying for tickets will be their chief amusement until Ripa and Philbin swing into town.
This trip north is not the co-hosts' first trek to Canada.
In May of 2006, Philbin and Ripa taped two shows from Niagara Falls, Ontario.
The trip was sponsored by Fallsview Casino, the Niagara Parks Commission, the Canadian Tourism Commission and the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. These funding partners dished out $700,000 to cover the show's production costs at that time.
According to P.E.I. government officials, the price tag to bring "Live!" to Charlottetown is $1 million.
The province will contribute $800,000 towards that bill. The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will supply another $200,000.
The upcoming excursion to Charlottetown was a tightly guarded secret. But Ripa hinted at the P.E.I trip recently on air.
The mother of three casually mentioned that her daughter, Lola, was reading "Anne of Green Gables."
The children's classic penned by Lucy Maud Montgomery in 1908 has sold more than 50 millions copies around the world. It is set on a farm in the P.E.I. village of Avonlea.
