What you need to know
Kathie Lee Gifford prefers to keep her personal life private.
Decades after she convinced producers to create a family reality show for her longtime friend Kris Jenner, which led to the birth of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, the 72-year-old TV personality explained to Fox News why she doesn’t want to be the only one in the spotlight.
“I’m not acting out my life. I’m living it,” Kathie Lee told the outlet in a recent interview. “That’s why every time I’ve been offered a reality series, I’ve said ‘no’. ‘No, I’ve been in show business and I chose it as a kid. My kids didn’t. I’m going to go home to my kids and my husband every day and live as private a life as possible. Try to keep my kids away from it.'”
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In fact, Kathie Lee has made it a point to spend quality time with her two children, Cody and Cassidy, with her late husband Frank Gifford, as well as her five grandchildren, Frank, Finn, Ford, Rosie, and Faith. She also said that after she told Chris, 70, of the opportunity, it became very clear that “reality” was somewhat exaggerated.
“Chris is on his own show,” Kathie Lee explained. “Those types of reality shows have producers who say, ‘This is what’s going to happen today, make it real and make it fun.'”
Despite choosing different paths in life, the former talk show host emphasized that her and Chris’ friendship has remained strong over the years.
“I was 22 and she was 20 when we met,” Kathie Lee recalls. “No one knew who I was. No one knew who Chris was. And we just fell in love with each other. It was so much fun.”
“It’s been success, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom ever since then,” she added of the show that catapulted Chris and his family to fame. “But I haven’t changed, and deep down, Chris hasn’t changed either. She has 13 grandchildren now, I have five, and you know she’s in a happy relationship and I’m a widow. But we’re still the same people we were when we met all those years ago. But we have a lot more to show for it, that’s for sure.”
On Nov. 10, Kathie Lee shared photos from Chris’ James Bond-themed 70th birthday party, which included no shortage of the reality star’s famous friends and family.
“So happy to have arrived in California a day early to spend some private time with @krisjenner,” she captioned the post. “And I was so happy to be in the car with her on the way to the party, surrounded by her closest family and friends. I love you, my friend, and always will.”
