KATHIE LEE GIFFORD

THE FORMER TODAY CO-HOST FINDS ROMANCE AGAIN FOUR YEARS AFTER LOSING FRANK

After the loss of her husband Frank four years ago, the former Today co-host finds love again in Tennessee.

At a recent outdoor concert in Franklin, Tenn., Kathie Lee Gifford gleefully danced with a handsome younger man to a Journey tribute band. Looking giddy, the former Today co-host smiled broadly as her new beau moved in for a kiss. Later, the couple sat together in lawn chairs, chatting animatedly and clearly enjoying each other’s company.

Four years after the death of her beloved husband, football great Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee has remade her life and found new love with Randy Cronk, 56, a twice-divorced insurance agent and Ohio native currently residing in Spring Hill, Tenn. “I’ve been ready for love,” Kathie Lee, 65, confided to Closer. “Whatever God has for me, I’m open.”

MAKING CHANGES

While divine intervention may have played a part in Kathie Lee’s new romance, she also deserves credit for making some huge moves to create a more fulfilling life for herself. Last April, facing an empty nest — her children, Cody, 29, and Cassidy, 26, both live in LA — Kathie Lee quit her job at Today and moved to Nashville to focus on her music career. “I’m making big changes in my life because I need to,” she said at the time. “Otherwise, despair sets in and loneliness can be crippling. I moved to Nashville to save my life.”

The change lifted Kathie Lee’s spirits. “I wake up every day excited about what I’m doing,” she gushed. Her relocation

ing Randy. “You don’t find love,” Kathie Lee said. “It finds you. It sneaks up on your heart.” — Louise A. Barile

“Do I need companionship? Yes, I do,” says Kathie Lee. “And that’s one of the reasons I moved to Nashville.” “Meeting Randy has definitely put the pep back in her step,” says an insider.