Kathie Lee Gifford, 70, opens up about forgiving late husband Frank for affair, shares pain of memory

Kathie Lee Gifford has revealed why she forgave her late husband Frank for his extramarital affair with a flight attendant – admitting she didn’t want to end up a ‘bitter and angry human being’.

The 70-year-old TV host admitted that she did struggle with the concept of forgiveness at first, but decided to move past Frank’s infidelity because she feared she would end up making everybody around her ‘every bit as miserable’.

In a candid interview with Entertainment Tonight, Kathie explained that one of the hardest topics to write about in her new book, I Want to Matter: Your Life Is Too Short and Too Precious to Waste, was her second’s husband’s betrayal with Suzen Johnson in 1997.

‘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 ET’s Rachel Smith.

Kathie Lee Gifford has revealed why she decided to forgive her late husband Frank for his extramarital affair

Frank, pictured here in 2004, cheated on Kathie with a flight attendant back in 1997

Frank and Kathie pictured in November 2012 with their two children Cassidy and Cody

The couple, pictured here in 1990, married one another in October 1986

‘I have always felt from my earliest youth that I had the choice every day of my life to be a blessing or a burden and I want to be a blessing,’ Kathie continued.

Although it has been nearly a decade since Frank passed away of natural causes, his affair with Suzen still brings her ‘very painful’ memories.

‘My faith was definitely tested the most during the whole year dealing with Frank’s infidelity because I thought that I had finally found my soulmate,’ the mother-of-two explained.

Asked if she thinks she was scrutinized because she ‘stayed’ with the former football player, Kathie replied: ‘Oh I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn’t. If I stayed with him I was just a stupid woman that put up with a cheating husband, if I left, [people would have said], “Oh you call yourself a Christian.”‘

The couple’s children Cassidy and Cody were just four and seven-years-old when news of the affair was splashed across New York City newspapers, laying bare sordid details of Frank’s tryst with Suzen. 

Supermarket tabloid the Globe ran a front-page story about the illicit relationship, featuring images from inside their hotel room, as well as Suzen’s claims that she and the former sporting star had been seeing each other for several years. 

To add insult to injury, the sensational news came just five years after Kathie had insisted that ‘cheating was out of the question’ as far as her husband was concerned while writing about their marriage in her memoir, I Can’t Believe I Said That. 

‘Frank is my husband, confidante, lover, therapist, parenting partner, and best friend… Cheating is out of the question,’ she said.

‘Sure, Frank sees sexy flight attendants and businesswomen when he flies around the country. But the only come-on line he gets anymore is “C’mon, Frank, show me a picture of [their son] Cody.’

Kathie said that Frank’s affair with Suzen Johnson (left)  still brings her ‘very painful’ memories

When asked if felt scrutinized for staying, Kathie claimed she was ‘damned if she did, damned if she didn’t’

But Kathie detailed how thankfully she had already learned to ‘practice forgiveness’ before marrying Frank.

Prior to their 1986 wedding, Kathie was married to Christian composer Paul Johnson from 1976 until their split in 1982, due to irreconcilable differences.

‘I’d been married before to a man who betrayed me deeply and I forgave him right away. You don’t hold on, don’t wait to forgive… you’re only hurting yourself,’ Kathie told ET.

‘Immediately forgive because love cannot live where hate does,’ the former Today anchor advised.

The betrayals clearly haven’t put Kathie off from finding love, and during her interview with ET, she neither confirmed nor denied that she was in a relationship when Rachel assumed she was single. 

‘Well, you don’t know what’s going on in my personal life, nobody does,’ Kathie told her bluntly.

‘So you may not be single and ready to mingle?’ Rachel probed, as Kathie responded: ‘I’m not saying a word.

‘I’m so convinced that if the Lord brings another beautiful man into my life, I am not gonna talk about it. We’ll probably get married, privately, and tell the world a year later so that nobody’s opinion matters!’