Kathie Lee Gifford Corrects the Record on Frank Gifford's 1997 Infidelity

Kathie Lee Gifford says "affair" is the wrong word for late husband Frank Gifford's 1997 infidelity. The former Today show host made the distinction during a July 15 appearance on Hang Out with Sean Hannity, per E! News.

"People call it an affair," Kathie Lee said. "No, an affair is not a tryst at a hotel one time. At all." The incident involved a one-night stand with flight attendant Suzen Johnson. It became a national scandal after a tabloid published an audio recording, which Kathie Lee described at the time as "another betrayal."

She addressed the personal fallout head-on. "It was horrible," she admitted. "He was my hero," she said, and it "took a long, long time" for her to gain trust again. On how she coped: "But you know what I did? The Bible says, ‘Be anxious for nothing,’ right? Now, did I threaten divorce? No." Despite the pain, she said forgiveness was immediate. "I forgave him the minute he said it was true," she recalled. She also denied reports that she temporarily left their home. "That’s not true," she said. "I never left my home."

The Aftermath

Kathie Lee, now 72, married Frank in 1986, and the couple shared two children, Cody, 36, and Cassidy, 32. Frank Gifford died in 2015.

She has spoken about the choice to stay before. "If I had run when Frank had his temporary insanity... then our children wouldn't have their father," she said in a past interview, adding that too many families break up "over something that could be healed."