AMERICAN IDOL - DIOGUARDI FINDS FAMILY LINK WITH PHILBIN

DIOGUARDI FINDS FAMILY LINK WITH PHILBIN

New AMERICAN IDOL judge KARA DioGUARDI has found an unusual family link - daytime U.S. TV personality REGIS PHILBIN is her cousin.
The pair's ancestors both hailed from the small town of Greci, Italy during the 18th and 19th centuries, DioGuardi discovered.
But Philbin failed to recognise the link until the Idol judge appeared on his U.S. chat show Live with Regis + Kelly on Monday (19Jan09), when producers handed him a detailed family tree showing the two were in fact distant relatives.
And songwriter DioGuardi was quick to seal their bond, extending an invitation to Philbin to her upcoming wedding to boyfriend Mike MCCuddy, who proposed to the star earlier this month (Jan09).
DioGuardi says, "We're cousins, maybe eighth or ninth cousins. I'm so proud - I'm related to Regis. That's amazing. I'm getting married. Do I have to invite him? I'm going to hold you to that (coming)."