Kathie Lee Gifford has opened up about the "debilitating" chronic pain she has endured in recent years, brought on by the demanding "physical" nature of her career.
In the past two years, the former Today show host, 72, has undergone a series of procedures: a total hip replacement in 2024, followed by a second surgery after she overextended herself during the recovery period, and more recently, a cataract surgery.
The pain was so unbearable that Gifford "wanted to die a few times," she admitted in a new interview with People. "I wasn't going to hurt myself. I wasn't going to kill myself," she clarified. "I just didn't want to be here — as blessed as I am."
Looking back at her decades-long career in the entertainment industry, Gifford recalled: "A lot of it was physical. I remember doing Annie at Madison Square Garden for five weeks over Christmastime [in 2006], and I played Miss Hannigan. I wanted to make it big so that the little kids sitting could see it. I did pratfalls.
"When I look back on all of these years in this industry, I go, 'I can't believe I didn't fall apart years ago,'" she noted. "I've never abused [my body], I just used it."