It’s been almost 30 years, but Kathie Lee Gifford still remembers how it felt when she found out her late husband Frank Gifford strayed from their marriage.
In 1997, the news broke that the former football star had a one-night stand with flight attendant Suzen Johnson. Although Kathie Lee was devastated at the time, there’s one misconception about the incident that still bothers her.
‘It was horrible’
“People call it an affair,” the former Today show host said on the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast. “No, an affair is not a tryst at a hotel one time. At all.”
It might have been a one-time mistake, but things got messy after a tabloid released an audio recording of the rendezvous. To make matters worse, Kathie Lee had publicly defended Frank before the tape leaked.
“It was horrible,” she recalled. “He was my hero. It took a long, long time for me to gain trust again. But you know what I did? The Bible says, ‘Be anxious for nothing,’ right? Now, did I threaten divorce? No.”
Setting the record straight
Kathie Lee also denied that she left the home she shared with Frank before they got back together, saying that rumor is “not true.”
“I never left my home,” she clarified. “I forgave him the minute he said it was true. That’s what Jesus says.”
Still, Kathie Lee acknowledged that their marriage changed after the scandal. “I thought we had a great marriage, great love life,” she said after admitting that she was “deeply hurt” by the infidelity.
Why Kathie Lee Gifford stayed
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight in 2024, Kathie Lee said she stayed because she wanted her children to have a relationship with their father.
“If I had run when Frank had his temporary insanity — which he was set up for, let’s face it — then our children wouldn’t have their father,” she said.
“A very dear friend told me when I was going through the hardest time about it, he said, ‘If you can’t forgive your husband, forgive your children’s father,’” she added.
Looking back, Kathie Lee said she’s grateful she stuck it out. “Too many families break up over something that could be healed,” she said.
Love after Frank Gifford
As the 11th anniversary of Frank’s death approaches in August, Kathie Lee told People she isn’t interested in finding a new partner.
“I am not dating anybody right now, and I don’t want to date,” she said. “I’m not looking, and I don’t think I’ll ever get married again.”
“I had an opportunity for that to maybe happen, and it didn’t work out,” she added. “Frank will always be the love of my life. If God wants to do something miraculous, like give me another great love [then I’m open to it]. And so I leave room for the miraculous to happen.”
