Two-Faced TV Hosts At Their Worst

They're all smiles on the small screen, but some of TV’s best-known talk and game-show hosts can be total jerks! The National ENQUIRER digs deep into their dark pasts and recent run-ins to expose the rude, crude and nasty behaviors behind the phony faces. Read on — and you won’t be fooled again!

Kathie Lee Gifford: With 11 Daytime Emmy award nominations, you’d think Kathie Lee would have niceness down to a science. That was hardly the case when she interviewed Bill Nye, the "Science Guy," on “Today” in April. As her guest tried to share fascinating facts about snowflakes and raisins, Kathie Lee wore a beyond-bored expression and slumped in her chair. At one point, she snapped, “What do you mean, ‘You guess?’ ” while bow-tied Bill gave an earnest answer. When he tried to explain, she shooed him off with a rude, “No time, so sad!”

Ellen DeGeneres: The afternoon chat queen is bubbly when sucking up to celebrity guests, but behind the scenes she’s a dictatorial boss who reportedly “explodes at staffers over the tiniest things.” Because of Ellen’s “erratic behavior,” her underlings are prone to huddle after hours just to vent. “A few have even quit because of her behavior,” squealed a source. And employees aren’t the only ones in terror. Comedian Kathy Griffin “started sobbing” after a clash with Ellen, who “went on a rant” after Kathy said women in TV should be "more supportive" of each other!

Michael Strahan: While Kelly Ripa has endured plenty of bad press for being a diva, it’s hard to believe she deserved the way former co-host Michael abandoned her on “Live!” The football player-turned-morning-showman made a rough play in April 2016 by keeping her in the dark about his jumping ship to “Good Morning America,” then split months earlier than planned. Yet when accused of running out on Kelly, Michael was stone cold in his defense!

Steve Harvey: The scandals in his private life, including allegations of bigamy and infidelity, have apparently not humbled the media mogul, at least not with his worker bees! In a recently leaked memo to the staff of his former talk show, Steve said, “Do not come to my dressing room unless invited. Do not approach me while I’m in the makeup chair.” And if anyone found the rules harsh, Steve continued, “Do not take offense. [This] is for the good of my personal life and enjoyment.”

Larry King: He’s been the king of talk since he first went on the air in 1957, and fans have come to accept his rude interviewing style as part of his shtick.Yet if you think he’s a total gentleman, think again! Katie Couric, who had a fateful date with Larry, 23 years her senior, decades ago, says he was a complete cad.“What can I say? He lunged!” Katie reveals. “I started laughing a little because the whole situation was like out of a bad Lifetime movie.”

Sharon Osbourne: You wouldn’t expect the wife of a man who bit the head off a bat to be a paragon of politeness. So, predictably, rocker Ozzy Osbourne’s missus, a host of “The Talk,” has been viciously biting to rivals on “The View.” Here’s Sharon on the competition in 2013: “Barbara Walters — idolize her. Divine. The rest can go f--- themselves.”

Wayne Brady: He’s got a squeaky-clean image, but the former “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” star has some serious bad blood with Bill Maher! Wayne went from calling Bill “an elderly gentle-man” to saying, “He’s your uncle at the barbecue. Or your grandpa that shows up with no pants on or something.”But when Bill made a joke that questioned his fellow media star’s blackness, Wayne went wild, threatening to “beat [Maher’s] ass in public.”

Joy Behar: There may be honor among thieves, but apparently not among female talk-show hosts! Although both gals now deny the feud, Sharon Osbourne of “The Talk” once claimed Joy Behar of “The View” insulted her in front of legendary journalist and TV host Barbara Walters. “We were at a reception, and [Joy] looked at my hand and she went, ‘Oh, that’s very ostentatious! Who got you that?’ She was looking at my wedding ring,” Sharon says.“I saw her again at another event and she looked at me as if I had leprosy!”

Vanna White: While the lovely "lady of letters" may come off as pristine as a pageant queen, she’s got a trashy past. Before landing her longtime role on “Wheel of Fortune,” Vanna toiled in the sleazy side of showbiz. She worked as a nude model for Playboy and other magazines, and even appeared in “Gypsy Angels,” a soft-core porn movie! Vanna, who played a stripper in the 1980 flick, had a sizzling topless love scene. “I was really strapped for cash,” she says ruefully. “I knew it was a mistake, and I wish I’d never agreed.” You can spell that again!

Alex Trebek: “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek plays the good guy on camera, but behind the scenes he’s an out-of-touch tyrant who runs a tight ship! According to leaked emails, Alex gave a crying kid the cold shoulder after she ran offstage in a taping of “Jeopardy! Kids.” Her mom called out Alex in a scathing letter to bosses. When asked to redo the segment, the tyrant pitched a fit and threatened to quit! The cranky 77-year-old showed his age when a contestant said she was a fan of “nerdcore hip-hop,” and Alex cracked, “Losers, in other words.”

Rosie O’Donnell: No one’s surprised anymore by Rosie’s big mouth and brash comments, and her troubles with her children are also public fodder. But one thing the openly gay TV personality hoped to keep in the closet was an affair with a Broadway star that destroyed the actress’ heterosexual marriage, “converting” her to lesbian sex, according to a source. Although she denies it, Rosie reportedly stole Dana Caruso Schiff away from husband David Schiff, after the two co-starred in a production of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Alec Baldwin: Alec yuks up a storm emceeing the rebooted “Match Game,” but, although he denies it, he’s an egotistical bully with anger issues! In an infamous 2007 incident, Alec called his 11-year-old daughter a “rude thoughtless pig” in a leaked voicemail — and he’s still mad it was exposed! “It’s thrown in your face every day,” the big baby whined. The hot-tempered maniac assaulted a New York newspaper photographer after getting his marriage license in 2012.