Hoda Kotb Reveals Former 'Today' Co-Host Kathie Lee Gifford Is 'Living Her Best Life' 5 Years After Leaving Show
Kathie Lee Gifford is living life to the fullest, according to Hoda Kotb!
The subject of the former Today co-host came up when Kotb shared the singer's newest song on the Wednesday, January 10, installment of Today with Hoda and Jenna.
"By the way, Kat’s living her best life, she’s in Nashville, she’s writing music, she is living her best life," the television personality gushed. "She’s playing with the cutest grandkids, putting out good music, so Kat, love you."
This comes roughly five years after Gifford left her role on the popular chat-fest.
The actress and songwriter admitted in a 2019 interview that she didn't "want" to leave Today, but she "had to leave if I wanted to actually fulfill lifetime dreams I have that I’m running out of time for."
"I’ve wanted to be in writing and producing and starring in movies since I was a small girl when I wrote a letter to Walt Disney and said, 'I want to make movies with you,'" she revealed at the time.
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She also confessed to falling "in love" with Kotb, calling all of her coworkers the "nicest group of people."
"There’s not a false bone in her body," she gushed of her former co-host. "There’s not a mean bone in her body. She’s incredibly smart and brilliant, but she’s childlike, too, in the best sense of the word: about life, about wonder, the wonder of life, especially since she’s become a mother. She’s an amazing mother."
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As for how the Today show exit made her feel, Gifford said, "I certainly won’t bawl like a baby."
"I’ve been in this business too long, and it’s not like I’m dying, and it’s not like I’m never gonna see these lovely people ever again. I’m leaving one particular job and one particular building for something that I’ve been wanting to do my whole life, and I have so much to look forward to. So it’s not a sad thing for me."
"I thought I’d done the best television I could possibly do. Regis [Philbin] and I did 15 years together, and we changed the face of daytime television forever," she added, referring to hosting Live with Regis and Kathie Lee from 1985 until 2000. "We really did...[Philbin is] a master at it, and I felt very grateful to be a part of history."
Gifford spoke with USA Today about leaving her hosting gig on the Today show.