Kathie Lee Gifford Says She’s the Happiest She’s Been in ‘Years’ While Giving Update on Her Nashville Life

Doing better than ever! Former Today show host Kathie Lee Gifford made her return to her old stomping grounds on Tuesday, November 12, to discuss her new life in Nashville. “Everybody asks me, like, ‘How is Kathie doing?’ I go, ‘You don’t understand. Kathie Lee is happier now than I remember her being,’” Hoda Kotb began. “Then I have been in years and years and years,” the 66-year-old blonde beauty divulged.

“First of all, there is a different culture — completely different culture down there, and it’s a culture of kindness in Nashville,” Kathie Lee added. “And they are authentically kind. There are some mean ones, I guess, but I don’t hang out with them. They are joyful, they have so much fun. Music everywhere. There are barbecues. Everything is Americana, like when I was growing up — like you did in Texas,” she said, referring to Jenna Bush Hager’s hometown state.

The former talk show host continued to give insight into her life down south. “I wake up, and there are church bells ringing all around me and birds. When a siren comes by, rarely, it’s not because someone was murdered, it’s because somebody needs help,” she said. “It’s all different every day. I didn’t realize it’s seven months since I was here.”

Of course, Hoda, 55, and Jenna, 37, wanted to know if she had been interested in dating again following the death of her husband, Frank Gifford. “I went out on a couple of dates,” she admitted. “I went out, you know, with friends to a club. This sweet guy asked me to dance, and I said, ‘OK.’ And then he disappeared into the crowd. A couple of weeks later, same band, and so we danced again. We just went out a couple of times, it was fun. I hadn’t been on a date in 33 years.”

The songwriter detailed what it was like to dip back into the dating pool since she was off the market for quite a long time. “It’s surreal,” she said. “Because the world has changed so much, but he is a gentleman, so it was fine. It was fun, but then I got so busy, and we are from different worlds. Down there, I don’t stay at home. Nobody in Greenwich, Connecticut, just shows up for one thing. They just drop by.”

Fans couldn’t help but comment on Kathie’s appearance. One person wrote, “She looks so much healthier and stress-free,” while another echoed, “I’m so happy for KLG.” A third person chimed in, writing, “Kathie, you look fab!”

However, Kathie Lee admitted she enjoyed being back on the NBC show. We love seeing Kathie thriving these days!