Kathie Lee Gifford Reveals Misconception About Husband’s Infidelity

Kathie Lee Gifford Shares She "Wanted to Die" Amid Recovery From Multiple Surgeries

Kathie Lee Gifford is still hurting over her late husband Frank Gifford’s indiscretion.

Nearly 30 years after the former Today show host’s late husband had a one-night stand with flight attendant Suzen Johnson, she cleared up a misconception about the headline-dominating scandal.

“People call it an affair,” Kathie Lee said during a July 15 appearance on Hang Out with Sean Hannity. “No, an affair is not a tryst at a hotel one time. At all.”

Indeed, while Frank’s 1997 infidelity was a one-night gaffe, the incident gained national attention when an audio recording was published by a tabloid after Kathie Lee publicly defended her husband against the allegation, noting that for her, it was “another betrayal.”

“It was horrible,” she admitted. “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.”

And while the 72-year-old—mom to Cody Gifford, 36, and Cassidy Gifford, 32, with Frank—noted that some reports alleged she had temporarily left the couple’s home before reconciling, she clarified, “That’s not true.”

As she put it, “I never left my home.”

“I forgave him the minute he said it was true,” the former talk show host recalled. “That’s what Jesus says.”

Nevertheless, Kathie Lee admitted that her marriage with Frank—whom she married in 1986—was never quite the same leading up to his death in 2015.

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

“Not when you’ve been that deeply hurt,” she said. “I thought we had a great marriage. Great love life.”

As for why Kathie Lee chose to stay with Frank anyway?

"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 told Entertainment Tonight in 2024. “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.'”

And she’s happy she stayed, adding, “Too many families break up over something that could be healed.”

For more stars who got caught up in cheating scandals, keep reading...

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