Kathie Lee Gifford has revealed the reason she quit her Live! back in 2000. Gifford tells the New York Post, “My daddy was dying, and I was not comfortable making it public. I had a very personal reason for not going through yet one more painful experience in a public way.”
Gifford revealed her father was suffering from a progressive brain disease similar to Alzheimer’s called Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). He died in 2002. “I knew it was going to be a horrendous family experience. I just had to have that time with him without cameras in my face and without having to explain things,” Kathie Lee reveals. “I wanted my daddy to be able to die with the dignity in which he had lived his life.”
Kathie Lee will return to her old morning talk show next month as a guest on Live With Regis & Kelly. It’s her first appearance on the show in seven years. “I was so closely associated with the show and so closely branded with it that it was extremely wise for them to distance themselves from me in order to give Kelly [Ripa] a chance to make an impact — which she’s done beautifully,” Gifford said.
