Why I Forgave Frank

THE TODAY CO-HOST OPENS UP ABOUT SURVIVING THE TOUGHEST CHALLENGE OF HER MARRIAGE

Astory about infidelity on Today earlier this month struck a raw nerve in Kathie Lee Gifford. “Having been through it myself, it’s no fun. It’s horrible,” the talk show host starkly admitted of the time Frank Gifford strayed from their marriage in 1997. “You’re broken by it,” she continued, admitting that the pain made her wrestle with whether or not to leave her husband. “The people who you love the most are the ones who are capable of hurting you the most.”

The rare and revealing confession came a month before the two-year anniversary of Frank’s Aug. 9 death at the age of 84, and it was clear the decades-old memories of his betrayal were still fresh. But Kathie Lee, 63, insists she’s better off for having fought for her marriage. “If you love him, and he loves you, and you are willing to forgive him, and it is sincere, then work at it,” she told Closer at the Dunkirk premiere in NYC on July 18 about her advice to others going through a similar struggle. “Especially if you have children,” adds the mom of Cody, 27, and Cassidy, 23, who were 7 and 3 when Frank’s affair became public. “A lot of people are sorry they got caught; hardly anybody is [truly] sorry they did something. Know the difference.” And as she told Hoda on Today, “That’s the first thing someone once said to me, if somebody cheats on you, first time see your pastor, priest or rabbi. Second time, see your lawyer.” She adds to Closer, “If it’s a pattern, get out and take your kids as fast as you can.”

It wasn’t a pattern with Frank, but that didn’t diminish the pain Kathie Lee felt at the time. Looking back at that trying period, she says, “It takes a lifetime to build that kind of friendship and history together and trust. It takes one stupid decision to destroy it.” Asked if she thought about not staying in her marriage, she replies, “Yes, of course.” But she used the pain she endured as a life lesson for her children. “I would say to my kids when

“It takes a lifetime to build that kind of [trust]. It takes one stupid decision to destroy it.”

— Kathie Lee

LIFE LESSON