Is Kathie Lee Gifford married? Iconic host reveals why she chose family over reality fame

According to a report from Closer Weekly, Kathie Lee Gifford had been married to composer Paul Johnson from 1976 until 1983. The television host rarely discussed that chapter of her life, but she broke her silence in her 2020 memoir, It’s Never Too Late. As she wrote:

“The truth is, it was only a marriage in the pages of the law, though Paul and I were married, we shared only one thing — our faith.”

The couple finalized their divorce in 1983. Three years later, on October 18, 1986, Kathie Lee Gifford married former NFL star Frank Gifford. Their family grew quickly; their son, Cody, arrived in March 1990, followed by their daughter, Cassidy, in August 1993.

Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford remained married for 29 years, even weathering public cheating allegations in the late 1990s. Their marriage ended only with Frank’s passing in 2015.

Recent reporting from outlets including the New York Post noted that Kathie Lee later reflected on her career choices, explaining why she placed family ahead of fame, despite having played a role in launching the Kardashian reality-TV phenomenon.

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How Kathie Lee Gifford helped launch the Kardashians but refused reality fame herself?

In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Kathie Lee Gifford revisited a friendship that had lasted longer than most marriages in Hollywood. While promoting her thriller Nero and Paul, she found herself talking about Kris Jenner and about how the two of them managed to stay connected across five decades. Gifford shared:

“She has been my friend for 50 years, I was 22, and she was 20 when we met. Nobody knew who I was, nobody knew who Kris was, and we just fell crazy in love with each other. I’ve had so much fun.”

Their paths soon split. Gifford’s career carried her to New York, while Jenner’s life unfolded in Los Angeles with Robert Kardashian. Gifford joked that “we all know what happened” after that, and noted that she was the person who arranged the family’s introduction to Keeping Up With the Kardashians, the series that turned them into household names. She explained:

“It’s been nothing but success, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, ever since, but I haven’t changed, and down deep, Kris hasn’t either.”

Despite having a hand in launching the Kardashian reality machine, Gifford said she never had any desire to star in her own show. She explained:

“I’m not acting out this life of mine. I’m living it.”

The offers came, which she refused:

“I’m going to go home to my children and my husband every day and have a life that’s private as much as possible. Keep my children out of it.”

Gifford also made it clear that the Kris Jenner people watched on television was not the whole story. “Kris is acting on her show,” she said, pointing out that producers often dictate what will unfold on camera and expect the cast to “make it real, make it fun.” She said the entire family had been “acting out their personas” for years and had “learned” how to lean into those roles.

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Kathie Lee Gifford went to celebrate a friend, not the spotlight

According to reporting from the New York Post, Kris Jenner marked her 70th birthday with a major celebration, the kind of star-studded gathering Kathie Lee Gifford usually avoided. She admitted she tended to “turn down most big events” because “they’re loud and noisy and you never get a chance to even talk to anybody.”

But this time, she showed up for her friend. Before the party, Kathie Lee Gifford told Jenner:

“I didn’t come to go to the party. I came to love on you and just remind us of all we’ve been through and God’s faithfulness in our lives.”

Once inside, she found a quiet corner and stayed there, steering clear of the cameras. She said she “avoided pictures with her pretty much all night,” explaining simply: “it was her night.” Kathie Lee Gifford had flown to Los Angeles ahead of the celebration to give Jenner her gift in private.

The two spent hours catching up, “sipping Perrier and lime and just talking and crying and laughing” about the experiences they had shared over the decades. Gifford shared:

“She’s got 13 grandchildren now, I’ve got five and, you know she’s in a happy relationship, and I’m a widow. And yet we’re the same people that we were when we met all those years ago. Just we have a lot more to show for it, that’s for sure. But basically, we’re the same people. And we’re grateful. We’re grateful people.”

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Kathie Lee Gifford got honest about love, loss, and why she isn’t dating again just yet

Kathie Lee Gifford had been unusually candid about where her heart stood these days. At 71, she admitted that romance wasn’t something she was chasing. During an event in Santa Monica, QVC’s launch of its Q50 Age of Possibility platform, she told People that she still spent time with the man she had broken up with in April 2024, a partner she had dated for several years.

When the subject of dating came up, Kathie Lee Gifford shut it down quickly. She said "No", explaining that she had already lived through a remarkable marriage and later a relationship she genuinely believed would be her last. That future, of course, hadn’t panned out.

Still, the two had kept a warm bond. She said:

“But I was with him all day yesterday, we’re still great friends… We were together almost three years, and it just wasn’t meant to be forever. But we love each other, so you just take a day at a time.”

She didn’t hide how deeply she had loved in the past, either. She explained:

“I’ve only been in love three times in my life and the first two are dead. So, [the ex] is basically all I’ve got, we’re back to being great friends and it’s perfect…. He’s a doll.”

Even with all that history behind her, she wasn’t shutting the window entirely. She added:

“And if the Lord brings me somebody else, that’s fine too, I’m not a desperate woman.”