Kathie Lee Gifford says she doesn’t give her children advice because ‘I raised them right’
FRANKLIN, Tenn. — Kathie Lee Gifford is an involved parent and grandparent, but she knows when it’s time to step back.
“I am the kind of parent that the minute my kids were adults, I stopped giving them advice,” Gifford told Fox News Digital.
She continued, “I raised them right. I raised them to know right from wrong. I raised them to know that God is their best friend. I raised them to trust the Lord in all things. And so I said, ‘Whenever you guys want advice, if you really want it, I’d be happy to give it to you. But I’m not giving it unless you ask me.’ And I’ve stuck to that.”
Gifford is a mother of two with her late husband, Frank Gifford, to son Cody and daughter Cassidy.
Kathie Lee Gifford said she’s stopped giving advice to her children, Cassidy and Cody. (Michael Buckner/Variety/Penske Media via Getty Images)
In 2020, Cody married longtime girlfriend Erika Brown, and Cassidy married fiancé Ben Wierda. Cassidy welcomed a son, Finn, in 2023, and Cody has two sons, Frank, in honor of his father, and Ford.
Last year, Gifford and Cassidy spoke with Fox News Digital about working together on their Amazon Prime series “The Baxters,” with Cassidy revealing her mother did offer some career advice.
“I am the kind of parent that the minute my kids were adults, I stopped giving them advice.”
“If you are the kindest and hardest working, you show up, and you always respect other people’s time. … My parents were always like, ‘If you’re five minutes early, you’re 15 minutes late-type [people]. [It’s about] respecting other people and never think[ing], never getting ahead of yourself because, like, once you think you’ve made it, you haven’t.”
“Oftentimes, if you’ve made it, you’ve made it on the backs of other people. And there’s a lot of that in the show business,” Gifford said. “And it’s not worth having if you got to do it that way.
“I raised them right. I raised them to know right from wrong. I raised them to know that God is their best friend,” Gifford said. (Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
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“Because of our faith, we’ve always used Jesus as our role model. And, you know, nobody lived a more perfect life, a more incredible example of mercy and love and gentle.”
According to Gifford, who previously said her daughter is “a natural” at parenting, her kids are “grateful” she doesn’t try to give advice.
“They don’t need me anymore the same way,” she told Fox News Digital. “I want them to want me, of course, just for our friendship and the joy that we all share together with the babies and everything else. But no, I don’t give advice unless they ask it.”
Instead, Gifford focuses on enjoying her time with her grandchildren, joking that “it’s not rewarding, it’s joyful.”
Gifford said that being a grandparent to Cody and Cassidy’s family isn’t rewarding but more “joyful.” (Greg Doherty/WireImage)
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“I never thought I’d have children, much less grandchildren. And it’s – they’re just precious. I don’t get enough time with them,” the 71-year-old gushed.
“Thank goodness for FaceTime now,” she added.
Gifford said she regularly calls her grandkids, lately Cassidy’s son, Finn, which made all the difference when he recently visited her home near Franklin, Tennessee.
“I’m not a grandmother. I don’t want to be called that. And ‘granny,’ I will shoot you.”
“He came over and just started kissing me, kissing me, kissing me. And I started to give him back to his father, and he couldn’t. And I went, ‘My gosh, I like being loved like this, I got to admit,’ and picked him up and put him on my new hip, which I didn’t have a hip like a month before.”
WATCH: KATHIE LEE GIFFORD ON WHY SHE DOESN’T GIVE HER KIDS ADVICE
Gifford stays in touch with her family via FaceTime. (Mike Pont/WireImage)
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The former “Today” host had a hip replacement this year, and she also suffered a broken pelvis, saying the injury came about “because I was stupid.”
“I thought I was stronger than I was,” Gifford said, recalling that she moved “300 books for a couple of hours” to prepare for a signing nearby. The next day, a friend was picking her up, and when she rushed to meet her, she fell and broke her pelvis in two places.
WATCH: KATHIE LEE GIFFORD SAYS SHE ‘WOULD BE IN AN INSANE ASYLUM WITHOUT JESUS’
She underwent physical therapy after eight days in the hospital and was quickly walking and putting weight on her leg faster than expected.
That may be why Gifford wants to clarify one important thing about her status as a grandparent.
Gifford does not want to be called a “grandmother” or “granny” but prefers the Yiddish nickname “Bubbie.” (Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
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“I’m not a grandmother. I don’t want to be called that. And ‘granny,’ I will shoot you,” she said jokingly.
“But Bubbie, Bubbie is the Yiddish word for grandmother, and I love that,” Gifford said. “I love that it’s different, and it sets me apart.”
She confessed that it took her grandkids a little while to get the name right, accidentally calling her “booby” at first, but “they finally got it.”