How Kathie Lee Gifford forgave late husband Frank over devastating affair with flight attendant
Kathie Lee Gifford says there’s a reason why she forgave her late husband, Frank Gifford, for having an affair – and it’s all because she didn’t want to create a “toxic” environment for their kids.
“I could have let the seed germinate, but I don’t want to be that person, that bitter, angry, unhappy, miserable human being ’cause you know what you end up doing? You end up making everybody around you every bit as miserable,” she told “Entertainment Tonight” in a new interview.
The former “Today” show co-host, 70, said that her “faith was definitely tested” after learning about Frank’s 1997 affair with Suzen Johnson. The former flight attendant was hired by the Globe to seduce the former NFL star, who eventually fell for her antics and became engaged in a scandalous tryst.
“We all make our choices –– he made a different one than I did and we all live with them,” added Kathie Lee, who, up until that point, felt she had “finally” met her soulmate. “But I can live with the choices I have made if I have truly experienced a deep and abiding forgiveness of that person.”
Kathie Lee admitted that the situation was “very painful,” but she didn’t want that to trickle down to their children. Their son, Cody, was just 7 years old at the time, while daughter Cassidy was 4.
“It’s a cancer in your soul and I don’t want that. I don’t want it for me, I don’t want it for anyone I love. I want people to be blessed and we all make our choices,” she continued.
The former “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” host also noted that she had previously learned how to “practice forgiveness” with her first husband, Paul Johnson, whom she forgave “right away” after he “betrayed [her] deeply.”
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Back in 2020, Kathie Lee previously talked about her decision to forgive her late husband in her book “It’s Never Too Late.”
“[Frank] wasn’t my hero anymore,” she wrote, admitting that she met with a therapist to help her heal.
However, she recalled the professional telling her one thing that was a “revelatory moment” in their marriage.
“He said words that are now emblazoned on my heart: ‘Kathie, if you can’t forgive your husband, forgive your children’s father,’” she wrote. “It took my eyes off of me and set them squarely on my children, who were still completely unaware of their father’s unfaithfulness. My children’s father was a wonderful, loving, gentle, compassionate, generous and sweet man. He was easy to forgive because I knew his heart.”
Kathie Lee and Frank were ultimately married for 28 years. Frank died in 2015 at the age of 84.
