No, Not Richard Spitz: Kathie Lee Gifford Says This Man Is The Love Of Her Life

Kathie Lee Gifford has been a household name since she first co-hosted "Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee" in 1988. Viewers quickly fell in love with her, thanks to Gifford's back and forths with Regis Philbin and her willingness to be so open about her life. Those qualities carried over to her time on "Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda," where the host and her best friend Hoda Kotb would quip their way through the 10 a.m, segment. Gifford's often chaotic style and ability to be so forthright made fans feel like they knew everything about her, including the inner workings of her love life. When Gifford retired from TV and started a relationship with Nashville businessman Richard Spitz, her supporters might've thought she'd found the true love of her life, and were sad when the two went their separate ways in 2024. But for the talk show star, the end of her relationship with Spitz was  heartbreaking, but it was nothing compared to losing the man she connected to the most, telling People, "Frank [Gifford] will always be the love of my life." 

Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford were married for almost 30 years, tying the knot in 1986 and staying together through thick and thin until he passed away in 2015. And while she has dated since his death, including Spitz, she admitted that she could not see herself marrying again, saying, "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."

Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford met in the halls of "Good Morning America" in 1982. Kathie Lee talked about the moment on "Today" (via People), recalling, "[...] I looked over at somebody in the dressing room — the best set of buns I've ever seen in my life — just leaned over a sink putting in contact lenses... and I yelled out, 'Have I got an operation for you!' To which the body the buns belonged to retorted, 'Yeah, with the fool on either end.'" At first, Frank tried to set Kathie Lee up with a friend but was quickly smitten with her himself, telling the Archive of American Television (via The Washington Post), "Right away she was so much fun. She was so alive and adorable." To Kathie Lee, their meeting was kismet: "I was supposed to be in that hallway that day. He was supposed to be in that room putting in contact lenses."

But Frank and Kathie Lee's marriage wasn't all sunshine and roses. In 1997, The Globe hired a woman to seduce Frank, hoping to catch him in an affair and put it on the front page. Frank did cheat on Kathie Lee, and it was difficult for her, telling People, "It was absolutely devastating. Nobody knows what I went through. You feel hopeless, and you don't want to live anymore... the person you loved the most in your life is the person that can hurt you the most." With the help of counseling, the couple was able to make things work, and when Frank died in 2015, Kathie Lee put the final word on it, saying on "Today," "He knew every sin he'd ever committed was forgiven."