Friday, November 17, 2006 – an average day on the set of ‘Regis and Kelly’. Regis Philbin, long-time host, took a Friday off – not an uncommon practice. Now, your faithful reporter here is actually an avid watcher of the very light ABC morning show program, a show that features some incredible interviews and some serious star-power. So, it is no surprise that when Reege takes a break, someone of some serious juice ends up sitting in his chair next to the ever-present, ever- bubbly, ever grinning personality-on-nuclear-overload Kelly Ripa. This time, the star seat-filler was American Idol runner-up, sexually amibiguous pop star Clay Aiken.

As a regular viewer, I feel I can make a judgement, or at least a review of the program. The audience was loaded with “Claymaniacs”, the coined term for the incredibly-devoted fans of the singer. He was very kind to them, doing a lot of hugging and handshaking. He seemed to feel quite enabled, and he behaved as such, making motions indicating he was often annoyed with Kelly’s non-stop look-at-me usual performance. But it is Kelly’s show after all, and she also was apparently miffed with Aiken’s smug, they-love-me seat-squirming and feigned indifference. At one point he told Ripa she talks too much, and put his hand over her flapping lips. Kelly reacted poorly to Aiken’s face-grab, telling him his actions were a “no-no” and added,"I don't know where that hand's been, honey.''

All I took from the show is that the two didn’t get along. However, Rosie O’Donnell, who was also watching (not with me, of course) took something else from Ripa’s comeback. Commenting from her perch on ‘The View’, O’Donnell referred to the moment and claimed Kelly’s comment was homophobic in nature.

Lest we forget, Aiken has not only been boondogged in rumors concerning his yet-to-be-announced sexuality, but also by the refuted tale that Clay was involved with a former male marine, and that he put his hand in places that seem almost physically impossible.

Ripa took no time in responding, calling in to The View yesterday (November 21st) to defend her words. She slammed O’Donnell’s comment as “outrageous” , stating that Aiken's actions were disrespectful and unprofessional -- and that he was spreading germs, since he'd just shaken hands with a lot of audience members. And while Ripa and Rosie seem to have mended their fences, I’d say it’s safe to say ‘Merry Christmas With Love’ won’t be spinning in Kelly’s CD player anytime soon.

See Kelly and Clay's run-in by clicking play on the video below: