Lifestyle

'IT'S SO DEBILITATING'

Kathie Lee Gifford, 72, Shares Painful Reason She Needed So Many Surgeries

The legendary ‘Today’ show host revealed details of her devastating series of health struggles.

Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

PublishedJun 30, 2026, 5:50 PM EDT

UpdatedJun 30, 2026, 5:58 PM EDT

Updated Jun 30, 2026, 5:58 PM EDTPublished Jun 30, 2026, 5:50 PM EDT

Comments

Kathie Lee Gifford revealed she spent the last two years battling multiple health crises in an interview on Tuesday.

​The Emmy-winning television personality, whose decades-long career includes hosting Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee with the late Regis Philbin and NBC’s Today show alongside Hoda Kotb, detailed her extensive struggles with her physical and mental well-being to People magazine.

​Trying in vain to stay an active grandmother was a particular pain point for Gifford.

​Gifford recounted undergoing a total hip replacement over a year ago, which had to be revisited shortly after when she fractured it while playing with her grandchildren.

“I couldn’t carry them, I couldn’t love on them, I couldn’t run and play with them,” she told People. “All I could do was sit there and sing and write silly songs with them.”

A change was necessary, she explained, in order to enjoy quality time with her family.

​Gifford is a widowed mother of two. Her son, Cody Gifford, 36, and his wife, Erika, are the parents of three young children, including Frank, 4; Ford, 2; and Faith, 10 months.

Cassidy, Gifford’s 32-year-old daughter, and her husband Ben have two children: Finn, 3, and Roise, 13 months.

After undergoing multiple surgeries and near-daily physical therapy, she said she’s now able to chase her grandchildren “all over the place.”

​“They’re all fantastic,” Gifford told People. “I’m hoping, Lord willing, that I have many, many years with them.”

While her procedures yielded success, her healing journey was far from easy and followed a long struggle with grief.

​Her late husband and fellow television host, Frank Gifford, died in August 2015, just two months before the couple would have celebrated 30 years of marriage.

​The former NFL player turned sportscaster died from a massive heart attack. It was later revealed that he had stage 4 chronic traumatic encephalopathy in his brain, likely caused by repeated injuries he sustained during his athletic career.

“Frank said to me before he passed, ‘When I go somewhere, I know what people are expecting from me. I want to be Frank Gifford when I go out,’” she told People.

She continued, “I want to be Kathie Lee, the person they expect. I don’t want to disappoint people. But when you’re in pain, it’s so debilitating, and everything’s a grimace. I’ve had emotional pain many times in my life, but never this chronic physical pain where you literally want to go home to Jesus.”

​Gifford explained that her suffering became so unbearable that she “wanted to die a few times.”

“I wasn’t going to hurt myself. I wasn’t going to kill myself. I just didn’t want to be here, as blessed as I am,” she admitted.

​Aside from her hip ailments, Gifford also underwent cataract surgery for her depth perception, as well as suffered multiple broken bones, including a broken arm.

After comparing herself to Mr. Potato Head, she said, “But you have to have a sense of humor about everything. Thank God I’ve never lost that, even in my bleakest moments. I’m a tough broad.”

After a whirlwind year, Gifford is back on her feet.

“When I look back on all of these years in this industry,” she said, “I go, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t fall apart years ago.’”

​Gifford is now filming a documentary about her legacy, which she said will be produced by her close friend Kris Jenner.

Play Video

Cailey PetschHealth and Beauty Intern

Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast.