Kathie Lee Gifford on not being shy about her faith: 'God wanted me to be famous'

Kathie Lee Gifford’s faith has gotten her through life’s challenges, both large and small.

At the moment, she’s coming back from hip replacement surgery, which has “been very hard” even for someone who has “been fit my whole life,” she told Yahoo Entertainment, as she sits for our virtual chat with a bag of ice and her dog, Bambino. Her recovery coincides with the release of her historical nonfiction book, Herod & Mary: The True Story of the Tyrant King and the Mother of the Risen Savior, which is out now.

The book “was my son's idea,” she said, referring to Cody Gifford, who she quips is “always looking for things to keep me out of trouble.” But make no mistake, it’s her own passion project, born from her lifelong pursuit to understand biblical teachings.

“On one of my trips to Israel … I learned so much about Herod,” she said. “This man didn't just kill you nicely. He tortured even his wives. … I came home on fire to make a movie or write a book about him.”

The book juxtaposes “the evil” of the king of Judea with “the purity of Mary, carrying the savior of the world,” Jesus, says Gifford. She partnered with Bryan M. Litfin, an author and religious studies professor, for the book, which is the first in a series of three (called Ancient Evil, Living Hope) exploring betrayal, miracles and ultimate hope.

During her storied career in entertainment — including as Emmy-winning co-host of Today With Kathie Lee and Hoda and Live With Regis and Kathie Lee — Gifford said she’s shared her Christian faith with “millions of people.” She said it’s her calling.

“A friend of mine was saying to me the other day, ‘I hate being famous,’” Gifford recalled. “I said, ‘There's lots about being famous that I don't like at all, but God wanted me to be famous because he gave me the mouth for it and a lack of fear about what anybody was going to say or think and a boldness.'

“If there was an opportunity I had at any time on any of those networks, I shared the hope of the Lord with people — and our ratings went through the roof," she continued. "Then all the suits, all the networks said, ‘Well, maybe, maybe she's on to something — this faith thing. We don't want it, but obviously the people love it. Let's give the people what they want.’”

Asked if she was ever advised to speak less about her faith during her career, she said, “No, they knew that I’d quit. … I am my faith.’ By the time I got to Hollywood, I had been a believer in Jesus for 10 years … I knew I was supposed to. I was called into this industry.”

Gifford said that because of her openness, she’d often have guests who appeared on her talk shows come backstage after to speak privately about faith and personal struggles.

“They'd always asked me to pray with them,” she said. “People were secretive about it. Nobody wanted anybody to know that they were interested in spiritual things. But everybody's hungry. And I see more and more fear from people. They ask, ‘Kathie, do you think there's more evil in the world now? I go, ‘No, there's just a lot of cable news.’”

One celebrity who surprised her by being a comfort to her at a time of need was Kevin Costner. In 1996, Gifford was accused of using child labor to produce her clothing line, an accusation she says was “completely made up” and made for “one of the worst experiences of my life.”

“I get a call — ‘Kathie, Kevin Costner’s on the line for you,’” she recalled. “I went: ‘What?’ I’d never met him, I don’t think. He says to me: ‘I just want you to know that I don't believe one word [of this]. Nobody believes this stuff' … and 'Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world,' which is in scriptures. I said, ‘You grew up in the church?' He goes, ‘Well, yeah, I learned it. I don't always follow it,’” she laughed. “We became friends from that and I'd always get a call whenever something hit the fan.”

For a time, their families vacationed together and Costner played golf with her late husband, Frank Gifford. They lost touch over the years, but her gratitude remains.

“I have tried to be that kind of person to other people as well,” she said. “You try to forget the evil done to you, but you try to never forget when somebody reached out and they didn't have to and showed you kindness.”

Gifford said the sweatshop scandal was part of the two worst years of her life. During that time, she also learned Frank was unfaithful in their marriage. She famously forgave him with the caveat that they had to work on their relationship.

“I forgave Frank like that,” she said, snapping her fingers. “But he thought it was easy for me and that life was going to go right back to how it had been. I said, ‘No, no, no. We've got work to do.’”

She still remembers what her marriage counselor told her as she struggled to move past it.

“He said, ‘Kathie, if you can't forgive your husband, forgive your children's father,’” she recalled. “I said: That guy I adore. That guy I can [forgive]. So I got my eyes on my children instead of my broken heart. People said he humiliated you. No, he did not. He humiliated himself. He crushed me, but he didn't humiliate me.”

Gifford’s faith and candor about life’s pitfalls has endeared her to fans and she’s “very grateful that people still care” about her. After all, “I’ve had it the other way as well,” she said. “There was a time when it was just: ‘We hate Kathie Lee.’ They thought I was a phony. And, you know, that's the one thing I'm not.”