I have a block of text in a template file called by php 
**using the following code:**

```
echo $playlist->description

```

the field contains html links that I would like to remove when the results of that field are displayed as content within a tweetbox created using the twitter api. 

**Example of displayed text:**

```
<a href="http://google.com">http://google.com</a> some text here.

```

**I'm looking to achieve the following result:**

```
some text here

```

I've looked into accomplishing this with regex, `preg_replace`, and a few others. However, I have yet to figure out how to incorperate into my existing string.

**I've tried the following with no success,** 

```
echo $playlist->description->$str = preg_replace('#(<a.*?>).*?(</a>)#', '$1$2', $str)

```

I am a self proclaimed php noob and I've spent a few weeks on trying to accomplish my objective, so any help is greatly appreciated. I feel like I'm real close! HELP!!! :) 

Best Regards,
Mike