The emotional upheaval that Kathie Lee Gifford experienced during her previous marriage caused her to break down in tears on the night of her wedding. However, she made a complete recovery, continued to enjoy life to the fullest, and eventually fell in love again.
Kathie Lee Gifford first showed an interest in working in the entertainment business when she was very young. She was able to participate in the national competition since she won the Junior Miss Pageant for the state of Maryland when she was 17 years old.
Because Gifford’s all-time favorite singer Anita Bryant was going to be judging the national competition, she couldn’t contain her excitement.
Gifford had already made friends with the people working on the pageant by the time it was announced that she would not be allowed to compete in the finals.
She was hired to care for Bryant’s four children in the capacity of a nanny. After that, Bryant made it her personal mission to mold Gifford into a devoutly religious performer.
As a result of this, Bryant made preparations for the young vocalist to get a full music scholarship to attend Oral Roberts University in Tulsa.
Gifford had a successful academic career at the university, during which time she rose to prominence as one of the minister world’s action singers and even had an appearance on an evangelical television program.
Gifford, on the other hand, did not take pleasure in her time spent there. The vocalist reported feeling confined and that the university was making an effort to restrict any kind of variety or distinction. She said,
“…God went to the bother of making each one of us special. They want for us to share their beliefs and thoughts just as they did.”
Gifford was on the verge of receiving her diploma when the comedian made the decision to withdraw from school and look for housing in Tulsa. She kept a spiritual journal about growing up in the 1960s while she was there, and the diary was eventually published in 1976.
The fact that she had the guts to go it alone and write a book was the impetus behind her decision to go to Los Angeles. Gifford was well on her way to establishing a prosperous career in the entertainment industry.
The singer and composer tried out for roles in advertisements, was successful in getting major parts in soap operas, and even made gospel CDs.
In 1973, when Gifford was still a student at Oral Roberts University, she crossed paths with song composer Paul Johnson. Johnson was acquainted with the son of the university’s founder, and Gifford was a student at the time.
Therefore, once Gifford relocated to Los Angeles, she started going to Johnson’s residence for bible study. Gifford was ready to explore the possibility of a romantic connection at the age of 22, and Johnson, who was 29 at the time, was the ideal blue-eyed “Christian catch.”
The relationship between Johnson and his future wife was not an easy one due to the back-and-forth nature of Johnson’s uncertainties; yet, the two did end up being married in 1976.
Both Johnson and Gifford were virgins when they were married, and they wanted their first night together as a married couple to be memorable and exciting. However, Gifford’s hopes and expectations of a passionate encounter did not come true.
On the night of their wedding, the fact that both of them remained virgins was a source of amazement for the couple. Gifford said that they intended to “respect God’s word” by giving themselves to one another as gifts in order to demonstrate their commitment to the cause.
However, after cooking a candle-lit supper, Gifford said that they were unable to become comfortable with one other. As a result, a night that was supposed to be filled with sparks of romance resulted in her crying for the whole of the evening.
The singer had a hard time accepting the fact that she and her husband had successfully rescued themselves despite their best efforts to follow the rules. Despite this, the pair was never able to settle into a comfortable sexual relationship.
Gifford said that the evening lacked any romantic qualities whatsoever. She said, “It was not impassioned, and it was not effective, but it was courteous.”
The unsatisfying reception they had for their wedding was only the beginning of their downhill spiral. After being married for a year, Johnson and Gifford began to sleep in rooms that were separate from one another.
The couple sought counseling, participated in therapy, went to meet pastors, and Gifford continued to prepare candle-lit meals, but they always ended up in tears.
They were the hot gospel singing pair who performed together and appeared on Christian magazine covers while their marriage was breaking apart behind closed doors in front of the public.
Despite the fact that Gifford and Johnson tried all in their power to seek assistance, the TV presenter said that she was mostly responsible for the tension that existed in her marriage.
According to Gifford, the counselor recommended that she give up her job to help assist Johnson in his profession as a songwriter, but Johnson quickly rejected the idea and underlined that Gifford had to continue working.
Gifford was thankful for the fact that she could use her work as an escape, thus she had no intention of giving up on her professional life.
She was honest enough to admit, “The only time I was really happy was when I was able to escape the hopelessness of my marriage and bury me in my art.”
Johnson brought about a somewhat unexpected and abrupt end to the marriage. Gifford had been gone for three weeks when he returned to find that their house had been “totally wrecked.”
When Gifford noticed that the piano was gone, it became abundantly evident to her that Johnson had abandoned her. At first, Gifford said that she believed they had been the victims of a robbery.
A message was left behind by the gospel song composer that stated, “Maybe now you’ll know that I mean it.” The note also included a phone number in case there was an emergency. Gifford is still perplexed by this note to this day.
Gifford was left with a sense of rejection as a result of the sudden end to her marriage; she expressed this experience by stating, “At the end of my marriage, I felt like I had offered myself to my husband as a gift that had been handed back.”
Gifford thought that the end of her relationship with Johnson was the best thing for both of them, despite the fact that her hopes of having a wonderful and romantic marriage were dashed in the process.
Gifford was given a job by Good Morning America six months after her divorce, at which point she traveled to Manhattan to accept the position.
Due to the fact that her cohost David Hartman also had to leave town, Gifford was paired up with a new cohost named Frank Gifford.
Gifford’s first reaction to Frank was the same as that of the other fans: she was impressed by his well-toned “buns.” After retiring from professional football with the New York Giants, he began a career as a sports commentator.
Gifford could only stare; she was not allowed to touch Frank while he was still married to his second wife, Astrid. However, the musician was dating many people at once and enjoying a “full life.” Throughout the years, she was in a few relationships, one of which was with the financier Stan Pottinger, who was Gloria Steinem’s ex-beau.
Gifford and Frank quickly became friends, and whenever Gifford went through a painful separation, Frank was there to comfort her and provide a shoulder to weep on.
Frank eventually asked Gifford out when he was going through his divorce, and she responded by saying that she would never spend another day of her life with him. This prompted Frank to ask Gifford out again.
Gifford and Frank exchanged vows and became husband and wife on a beach in Bridgehampton, New York, in October of 1986. The bride gave an account of her husband’s characteristics, describing him as “a conventional guy,” which other women could find “appalling.”
She did say, though, that “some women consider it as a Neanderthal approach and find it repulsive; nonetheless, I found it intriguing and seductive.”
Before Frank’s passing in 2015, he and Gifford had been married for a total of 29 years. Together, they raised two children, a boy named Cody, who is now 30 years old, and a daughter named Cassidy, who is 27.
Gifford had a second chance at love when the epidemic was going on. She discussed her new relationship openly on Today with Hoda and Jenna, saying, “I’m very excited about this.”
“I’m in a very wonderful relationship with someone who is kind, fun, and healthy, and that’s terrific,” the speaker said.
The television personality did not provide a lot of information about the mysterious guy in her life, but she did say that her life is full of joy, and she is thankful for her incredible existence.
Gifford found out that her first husband, Johnson, had gone on to become a marital counselor after the two of them divorced. She did not have much to say about his newly discovered interest, but she did believe that it was God’s attempt at being comic.
