Kathie Lee Gifford let her ruthless ambition and wild jealousy wreck her first marriage, claims her ex, Paul Johnson! “She turned our relationship into showbiz material, and I felt like a prop in her fairy tale!” spills Paul, a successful Christian music producer. The two were married from 1976 to 1983, and Paul says he watched as Kathie Lee became manipulative and controlling as she desperately pursued fame…
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“Kathie Lee turned our marriage into something to exploit early on,” said Paul in a 1999 interview in
The National ENQUIRER. Now riding high co-hosting the third hour of “Today” with
Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee was looking for a showbiz “in” when they first met, says Paul.
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“She twisted the arm of a friend to introduce us one day at a recording studio,” he recalled. “She loved my recordings, and gushed all over me like a groupie. I was flattered by the attention coming from a pretty girl, but it felt way over the top to me.”
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Yet, after Paul met
Kathie Lee’s family, he came away impressed, thinking he’d seen a different side to the pushy wannabe. “I thought if this was the kind of family she came from, I must have misjudged her,” Paul says.
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The two wed in a small ceremony at his home in April 1976, and the fact she was willing to marry him “without putting on a big show convinced me that she truly did love me,” he admits. “Most of my friends thought
she was a gold-digger, but I was convinced they were wrong.”
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Despite that, their marriage soon degenerated into a power struggle. Kathie Lee — who’d landed a gig on the “Hee Haw” spin-off “Hee Haw Honeys” in 1978 — sought the spotlight, and became resentful of her husband’s success.
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At singing performances, she began to humiliate Paul, who as her musical director stood right behind her, conducting the orchestra. “She made me the
fall guy for her jokes,” he recalls. “I’d pretend to laugh, but inside I was dying.”
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Kathie Lee, shown here in 1985 with
Placido Domingo, also sought the attention of anyone who could help her career — at her husband’s expense. “She would come on to older men right in front of me!” Paul said. “If they were rich and powerful, or had connections in show business, she would slobber all over them.”
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Kathie Lee also was extremely jealous of Paul — and once stormed out of a jingle session he was recording because he hadn’t hired her for the part! She
remained convinced she was star material, and would pout for days “and punish everyone around her” when she didn’t get what she wanted, Paul said.
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“Kathie Lee lives as if the cameras are rolling 24 hours a day.
She truly believes the world revolves around her.” Finally, on a trip to Hawaii, their problems boiled over when they bat- tled over “her career and me not paying her enough attention,” Paul says.
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Kathie Lee flew back home the next morning, and they split for good when he returned home. In 1986, Kathie Lee married
ex-football star Frank Gifford. They had two children and were married until Frank died at age 84 in 2015.
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“Kathie Lee turned our marriage into something to exploit early on,” said Paul in a 1999 interview in
The National ENQUIRER. Now riding high co-hosting the third hour of “Today” with
Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee was looking for a showbiz “in” when they first met, says Paul.
“She twisted the arm of a friend to introduce us one day at a recording studio,” he recalled. “She loved my recordings, and gushed all over me like a groupie. I was flattered by the attention coming from a pretty girl, but it felt way over the top to me.”
Yet, after Paul met
Kathie Lee’s family, he came away impressed, thinking he’d seen a different side to the pushy wannabe. “I thought if this was the kind of family she came from, I must have misjudged her,” Paul says.
The two wed in a small ceremony at his home in April 1976, and the fact she was willing to marry him “without putting on a big show convinced me that she truly did love me,” he admits. “Most of my friends thought
she was a gold-digger, but I was convinced they were wrong.”
Despite that, their marriage soon degenerated into a power struggle. Kathie Lee — who’d landed a gig on the “Hee Haw” spin-off “Hee Haw Honeys” in 1978 — sought the spotlight, and became resentful of her husband’s success.
At singing performances, she began to humiliate Paul, who as her musical director stood right behind her, conducting the orchestra. “She made me the
fall guy for her jokes,” he recalls. “I’d pretend to laugh, but inside I was dying.”
Kathie Lee, shown here in 1985 with
Placido Domingo, also sought the attention of anyone who could help her career — at her husband’s expense. “She would come on to older men right in front of me!” Paul said. “If they were rich and powerful, or had connections in show business, she would slobber all over them.”
Kathie Lee also was extremely jealous of Paul — and once stormed out of a jingle session he was recording because he hadn’t hired her for the part! She
remained convinced she was star material, and would pout for days “and punish everyone around her” when she didn’t get what she wanted, Paul said.
“Kathie Lee lives as if the cameras are rolling 24 hours a day.
She truly believes the world revolves around her.” Finally, on a trip to Hawaii, their problems boiled over when they bat- tled over “her career and me not paying her enough attention,” Paul says.
Kathie Lee flew back home the next morning, and they split for good when he returned home. In 1986, Kathie Lee married
ex-football star Frank Gifford. They had two children and were married until Frank died at age 84 in 2015.
