At 71, Kathie Lee Gifford is thriving—and she says the secret is her unwavering faith in God.
The beloved former Live with Regis and Kathie Lee co-host recently spoke with Fox News Digital at QVC’s TikTok Super Brand Day, where she reflected on what it means to embrace life in her 70s. Serving as a returning ambassador for QVC’s “Quintessential 50″—a campaign highlighting inspiring women over 50—Gifford opened up about purpose, gratitude, and what keeps her moving forward.
“For them to say it’s the Age of Possibility—maybe it means something different than it does to a lot of women who think, ‘Are there any possibilities left for me?'” Gifford said. “They have a sense of despair… a little sense of, ‘What am I here for anymore?'”
But that’s not how she sees it.
“I’ve always had purpose in my life,” she continued. “I’ve tried to be a believer in Almighty God, and if I wake up every morning—that means I’ve got a pulse. That means He’s got a purpose for me. And that’s what I try to do: listen to His voice, figure out what that purpose is, and go about it holding His hand. And not getting ahead of Him because I can’t do it without Him.”
“I can’t breathe without Him,” she added. “And never had a day in my life when I thought I could.”
Gifford, who describes herself as “steadfast,” said she is grateful she came to faith early in life. “I don’t know what I would have turned out to be in Hollywood if I hadn’t been rooted in my faith. Right, wrong, immoral, moral—it saved me from a lot of despair.”
For Gifford, every new decade has brought opportunity, not loss. “When I turned 50, I still had little kids. I was still working with Regis,” she shared. “Even at 60, I was working with Regis. And then I turned 71 this past year. I know it’s hard to believe.”
Though she jokes about aging, she’s as busy as ever—with a new book on the way, three movies in the works that she’s writing and producing with her son, and two new grandchildren arriving soon. “I will have five under the age of three in three years,” she laughed.
“If you live in the past, you’re going to die there,” she said. “If you just concentrate on what you’ve lost in your life, you’re going to miss out on what you still have. And God wants you to be grateful. Not enough grateful people in this world, you know? There just aren’t.”
Gratitude and hard work have been a defining theme throughout Gifford’s career, which spans decades in television, music, theater, and publishing. Though she first gained attention in the late ’70s on Hee Haw Honeys, it was her 15-year run on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee that made her a household name.
She later co-hosted the Today show alongside Hoda Kotb for 11 years, winning a Daytime Emmy Award in 2019 before stepping away in 2020. Gifford is also an accomplished playwright, singer-songwriter, and bestselling author, with five musicals and numerous books to her name—including the faith-focused The God of the Way.
Despite her success, Gifford credits her work ethic and attitude more than her talent. “There are a lot of people who feel entitled. I was never entitled to anything,” she said. “I was never the prettiest girl that got the job. I was never the best singer, I was never the best dancer, I was never the best anything—but I was the best worker. And I had the best attitude. I was a producer’s dream.”
That same positive outlook helped fuel her long relationship with QVC, which began years ago when she launched a skin cream line on the network. “We sold $5 million worth of it in five minutes,” she recalled. “I went, ‘Oh.'”
Though she hasn’t always returned to the airwaves in the middle of the night for product launches, Gifford said her appreciation for the company has never wavered. “They’re an amazing organization—technically, they’re superb—and nice, nice, nice people. And you know me, I don’t hang out with mean ones. I do not do it.”
For Kathie Lee Gifford, life isn’t slowing down—it’s just getting better. And through every season, she keeps walking in step with the One who’s guided her path from the very beginning.
“If I’ve got a pulse,” she says, “then God’s still got a purpose.”