00:00Kathie Lee Gifford was a beloved co-host of The Morning Show.
00:19She also filled a similar role on The Today Show.
00:22She left both shows in recent years but didn't use it as an excuse to retire.
00:27Instead, she used the extra time to take on more and more projects.
00:31She achieved her dream of being in the movies, she wrote books, she did voice performances,
00:35got on stage, and more.
00:37All of that activity ended up having drastic consequences.
00:40She doesn't regret it but cautions other women as they age.
00:44Keep watching as Kathie Lee Gifford shares an urgent warning after her hospitalization.
00:50Joining and Leaving The Today Show
00:52She replaced Anne Abernathy as co-host of The Morning Show with Regis Philbin in 1985.
00:58It went national as Live with Regis and Kathie Lee in 1988.
01:02She would also appear with her sportscaster husband Frank and their children.
01:06She soon became known for her charm and beauty.
01:08TV Guide held a mock poll in 1990 for the most beautiful woman on television.
01:14She won handily, receiving four times more votes than The Runners-Up Jacqueline Smith
01:18and Nicolette Sheridan.
01:20She and Regis got awards for their work.
01:22They were nominated eight years in a row from 1993 to 2000 for Outstanding Talk Show Host
01:28Emmys.
01:29Kathie Lee Gifford was a co-host on The Today Show from 2008 to 2019.
01:33She first announced her departure in 2018.
01:36She said in an emotional statement,
01:38Quote,
01:39It's an exciting time for me and I'm thrilled about all the projects that are coming up,
01:42but it's also hard.
01:43I've been in this business for 20 years and never worked with a more beautiful group of
01:47people who just give, give, give every day.
01:51She explained the reasoning for her departure in more detail on The Tonight Show Starring
01:55Jimmy Fallon in 2019.
01:57Losing her husband, Frank Gifford, in 2015 made her re-examine her priorities.
02:02It's the kind of event that makes people realize how little time they have left.
02:05She suddenly had the free time to do anything she wanted and realized what she wanted to
02:09spend that time on.
02:11She jokingly told Jimmy,
02:12Quote,
02:13I don't want to be the one using my senior discount to go see a movie.
02:16I want to make the movie that the seniors are using their discount to come into.
02:20That made her shift her career goals.
02:22She got to expand and try other types of projects.
02:25She independently released albums on CD, including The Heart of a Woman in 2000.
02:30She guest-starred on shows like Seinfeld.
02:32She did voiceovers for characters like Echidna on the 1998 TV series Hercules.
02:38She even went on stage for a concert performance of Annie in December 2006.
02:43She eventually got into the movies.
02:44She wrote the screenplay for the 2020 film Then Came You.
02:48She stars in it with Craig Ferguson.
02:51She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021 for all her efforts.
02:55Kathy returned as a guest on the Today Show seven months after she left.
02:59She told viewers that the culture in Tennessee was completely different.
03:02It was joyful, kind, and Americana.
03:05She made another guest appearance in 2021.
03:07She said that she was very grateful and felt settled in life.
03:11The Initial Hospitalization
03:13Kathy refuses to focus on her age at all, saying,
03:16It helps me not to think about how old I am, except for in the context of how faithful
03:22God has been to me all those years.
03:24It's a healthy mental state to be in, but it can't prevent the physical effects
03:28of aging.
03:29Kathy had always lived an active lifestyle, running from project to project.
03:33It took a toll on her body.
03:34She described what it was like going into the hospital for hip surgery.
03:37She said,
03:38They had been looking for the problem in my spine.
03:40They finally found out what it was.
03:43And by that time, I'd been in such agonizing pain.
03:45My doctor finished the surgery, came in to tell me it went beautifully.
03:48And then he said, Kathy, how have you been existing all this time?
03:52He said it's one of the worst hips I've ever seen.
03:54The doctor said her active lifestyle had worn her hips down to nubs.
03:59She insists she has no regrets, saying,
04:01Now would I live a different kind of life than I've lived?
04:04No, this is the life the Lord has given me.
04:07The Urgent Warning
04:08Kathy was discharged from the hospital after the hip replacement.
04:12The moment she began to feel better, she went back to her normal routine.
04:16That included moving 300 books by herself during a book signing in Nashville.
04:20All of that effort further weakened her body.
04:23A friend came to pick her up the next day.
04:25She rushed over to meet her and simply tripped.
04:28She then went back to the hospital after the traumatic fall that fractured her pelvis in
04:32two places.
04:33She says it was her own fault.
04:35She had weakened her body in the spot she fell on and overestimated her recovery.
04:40It's a problem that happens often to those recovering from surgeries.
04:44In her own words,
04:45Our bones, things like that, don't heal for sometimes months, even though you feel so
04:49much better.
04:50Kathy also said it was one of the most painful situations of her entire life, more so than
04:56the initial surgery.
04:57She had to stay in the hospital for a week to get physical therapy.
05:00When she was done, she was more than ready to leave.
05:03If she could offer some sort of warning to women her age, it wouldn't be to stop working
05:07though.
05:08She believes in doing whatever God has given you to do.
05:11It also wouldn't be to obsess about your age.
05:13It would be to be more careful about what you do as you get older.
05:18Recovering at Home
05:19Kathy realized she needed to slow down after her hospitalizations.
05:23Having a less active lifestyle is difficult for her to adjust to, but she's working on
05:27it.
05:28As she said,
05:29The Lord is telling me it's time to slow down.
05:31I've been running my whole life.
05:33The Lord is telling me, you've planted a gazillion roses, try smelling them.
05:37She's now focused on spending time with her family, including her grandson Frankie.
05:41She posted pictures of him in a basket of stuffed animals.
05:44She thanked her daughter-in-law Erica for sending him over on her daughter Cassidy's
05:48birthday.
05:49Her friends and fans left supportive messages in the comments.
05:53Where Does She Live Now?
05:54Kathy lives in Nashville, Tennessee.
05:56She has a 7,900-square-foot home that she bought in 2019 for $3.7 million.
06:02It's two stories big and has several bedrooms, a furnished basement, and a dream kitchen.
06:07The music city wasn't an unfamiliar area to her.
06:10She spent a year there filming the sitcom Hee Haw Honeys in 1978.
06:14She also shot the Today Show there during the CMA Festival.
06:17It was always her dream to move there.
06:19She loved the people there and developed a loving group of friends and coworkers.
06:23New Love?
06:24Kathy was married to composer Paul Johnson from 1976 to 1983.
06:29She was then married to Frank Gifford from 1986 until his death from natural causes at
06:34age 84 on August 9, 2015.
06:37She and Frank had a son, Cody, and a daughter, Cassidy, and he had three children from previous
06:41marriages.
06:42It was revealed in 1997 that Frank had been cheating on her with a flight attendant.
06:47She forgave him but admitted that the event was painful and that it tested her faith.
06:51Following her love life has been difficult since then.
06:54She has been intensely private about it, and rumors are all that the world has to give.
06:58She told interviewer Rachel Smith, who referred to her as single, that no one knows what's
07:02going on in her personal life.
07:04She also said, quote, If the Lord brings another beautiful man into my life, I am not going
07:08to talk about it.
07:09We'll probably get married privately and tell the world a year later so that nobody's opinion
07:13matters.
07:14She's also quashed rumors that she'd be on the new dating show The Golden Bachelorette.
07:18She doesn't feel that she could ever fall in love in a few weeks like the show demands.
07:22Rumors of a mystery man in her life began after she left the Today Show.
07:26She confirmed that she was in a relationship in April of 2021 on an episode of Today with
07:31Hoda and Jenna.
07:32She wouldn't say who he was, but just that he was a sweet man and that they were good
07:35for each other, saying,
07:36She doesn't want to fall in love easily and wants to find a man who will treat her right.
07:52She said, quote, My new mantra was going to be, my joy is non-negotiable.
07:56I'll negotiate time, I'll negotiate money with you, but my joy, I can't.
08:00Now it's time to hear from you.
08:02What's your favorite memory of Kathie Lee Gifford?
08:04Let us know in the comments section below.
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