Kathie Lee Gifford recalls her ‘fury’ over late husband Frank’s shock affair with flight attendant – and reveals why she chose to stay with him even after he put ‘his whole family at risk’

Kathie Lee Gifford has opened up about the ‘anger’ she felt over her late husband Frank Gifford’s torrid affair – and revealed why she ultimately chose to stay with him even though she was ‘never the same’ after she discovered that he had been unfaithful.

In 1997, news hit the Internet that former football player Frank had cheated on Kathie with a glamorous ex-stewardess named Suzen Johnson.

Now the TV presenter, 70, has spoken out about discovering her husband’s shocking infidelity via the media she left ‘pissed off’ during a conversation with Fox news.

She also explained why she decided to “forgive” him despite his betrayal, because she “didn’t want to break up their family.”

“First of all, I loved Frank,” she told the publication. ‘I was angry with him, believe me, and furious that he would take something as precious as our marriage to someone in a hotel room. It was so different from him. And in doing so, he put his entire family in danger.

“But I also knew we had a family we loved. I did it because I loved Frank. I had no intention of breaking up our family.”

Kathie and Frank – who was 23 years her senior – married in 1986 and welcomed two children together: son Cody in 1990 and daughter Cassidy in 1993.

The couple’s children were only four and seven years old when news of Frank’s extramarital romance appeared in the newspapers.

The television personality explained to Fox that while she was “furious,” a friend suggested she “forgive” Frank for the sake of their children.

And while she was eventually able to put it behind her, she admitted she was “never the same” after the painful and public humiliation.

“A man once said to me, ‘Kathie, if you can’t forgive your husband, forgive the father of your children,’” she recalled.

“I said, ‘Well, that guy’s great. That guy’s a wonderful person.’ He said, “Then forgive that fellow.” It worked.

‘However, I was never the same again. People take sex so casually, and it bothered me for quite a long time.

‘But I just went back to work, thanked everyone for their prayers and tried to avoid all newspapers for a long time.

‘It’s like when you have a scar, the wound may not be there anymore, but the memory of it is.

“I think marriage is a sacred, sacred relationship, and I was never the same. No, I never did that.’

Kathie previously described the affair in her new book I Want to Matter: Your Life Is Too Short and Too Precious to Waste, which hit shelves last month.

In it, she explained that the discovery completely changed the way she viewed her husband, but that she was able to overcome his infidelity because “she knew his heart.”

“He wasn’t my hero anymore,” she wrote. ‘[But] my entire faith is built on the foundation of forgiveness.

“The father of my children was a wonderful, loving, gentle, compassionate, generous and sweet man. He was easy to forgive because I knew his heart.”

She talked about it too Entertainment tonight after the tome’s release.

“I could have let the seed germinate, but I don’t want to be that person, that bitter, angry, unhappy, miserable person,” she said.

‘Because you know what you’re going to do in the end? You end up making everyone around you just as miserable.

“From my earliest childhood, I have always felt that every day of my life I had the choice to be a blessing or a burden and I want to be a blessing.”

When asked if she thinks she was scrutinized for ‘staying’ with the sports star, Kathie replied: ‘Oh, I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn’t.

‘If I stayed with him, I was just a stupid woman who tolerated a cheating husband, if I left, [people would have said]“Oh, you call yourself a Christian.”

Before marrying Frank, Kathie was married to Christian composer Paul Johnson from 1976 until their divorce in 1982.

Frank, a former NFL player and sports commentator, died in 2015 at the age of 84 from natural causes.

Two years after his death, the star admitted she went on her first date “in 33 years” after her boyfriend Hoda Kotb “set her up” with someone.

‘[He] was a nice guy, but he didn’t share my faith,” she said afterwards. ‘I wasn’t ready for it.

“Frank had been gone for two years, and we should never rush people with stuff like that, you know? And though I did not mourn, I did not look.”

Last month, she told ET that she plans to keep her love life out of the public eye.

“I’m not saying a word,” she replied when asked if she was dating. “If the Lord brings another beautiful man into my life, I’m not going to talk about it.

“We’ll probably get married in secret and tell the world a year later so no one’s opinion matters.”