Yahoo Finance Alfonso Ribeiro Recalls 'Wonderful Day' Spent with AFV Predecessor Bob Saget: He 'Set the Tone'
Alfonso Ribeiro is carrying on Bob Saget's legacy of laughs.
The America's Funniest Home Videos host, 50, opened up to People (The TV Show!)'s special correspondent Stephanie Bauer about the late 65-year-old comedian.
Saget, who was found dead earlier this month in his Florida hotel room, hosted AFV for eight seasons on ABC from 1990 to 1997. Ribeiro took over the hosting gig in 2015. (Tom Bergeron served as host from 2001 to 2015.)
"He obviously set the tone. He had a very unique sense of humor and made that show very successful," Ribeiro said of Saget.
Years before Ribeiro took the reins at AFV, Saget became known as the beloved face of the video clip show when it premiered in 1990. He landed the gig after hosting its first iteration as a TV special the year before and remained on the ABC series until 1997.
"I just simply think [because of] that thing inside [him], that made him want to make people smile and he wanted to make people happy, I think people have a special place in their heart for him," Ribeiro explained.
Ricky Middlesworth/ABC via Getty
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He also shared a fond memory with Saget in 2019 when they posed for a photoshoot to celebrate the show's 30th anniversary. The pair were joined by fellow AFV alum Bergeron.
"It was literally the three of us sitting at the makeup chairs together," Ribeiro recalled. "And you know, Bob, the standup comedian that he was, was always telling jokes. And so it was a wonderful day. It was a wonderful time to be able to spend some time with him."
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ABC/Getty Bob Saget on America's Funniest Home Videos
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Saget was found dead on Sunday, Jan. 9 in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando after performing a stand-up comedy set the night before. An initial autopsy found that there was no "drug use or foul play."
AFV memorialized Saget last weekend with a reel of highlights from his time on the show, which Ribeiro introduced. "As you've heard, the world lost a legend this week. And AFV lost a family member," he said.
"Bob Saget is synonymous with AFV to this day. This show wouldn't have been the same without his unique sense of humor. It's been my honor to continue carrying the torch Bob so brightly lit," Ribeiro added. "Take a look back at Bob being Bob."
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Bergeron, 66, also reminisced about Saget when he spoke to PEOPLE last week. "He was a performer certainly, but he was a human being, first and foremost, and was remarkably well-grounded," he said.
"There are some people out here [who] sit on the perceived totem pole [and it] is all they consider. I think Bob was one to not only appreciate his own abilities but to nurture and appreciate others. That's a wonderful trait," he continued.
"He loved performing. He loved making people laugh. I mean, you can see that in the last tweet that he put out after his show, the night before he died in Florida," Bergeron added. "He loved being back on stage. He loved being out, meeting people and knowing that there was still an audience for him that he could still make people laugh."
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