Kathie Lee Gifford, 72, says ‘I wanted to die’ as she details difficult year

Kathie Lee Gifford has been keeping the faith, so to speak.

The TV personality, 72, opened up in a new interview about dealing with a barrage of health issues over the past year, and how she’s trying to find the strength to not let them bring her down.

“I feel like Mr. Potato Head! One thing falls off and then another,” she said in an interview with People. “But you have to have a sense of humor about everything. Thank God I’ve never lost that, even in my bleakest moments. I’m a tough broad.”

Kathie Lee’s health issues – what has she experienced?

The former LIVE with Regis and Kathie Lee anchor explained that not only had she undergone a total hip replacement just over a year ago, she had to go in for surgery a second time for injuring herself after playing with her five grandkids.

She then broke her arm twice, once for rolling over in bed wrong one night, and another for a fall on a pavement. Finally, she then underwent cataract surgery for issues with her vision.

Kathie Lee also spoke about the sadness of not being able to play with her grandkids more often due to physical issues over the past three years, adding: “I couldn’t carry them, I couldn’t love on them, I couldn’t run and play with them. All I could do was sit there and sing and write silly songs with them.”

The former TODAY host’s heartbreaking thoughts

The former Fourth Hour of TODAY host spoke honestly about feeling defeated in moments of pain, even contemplating death. “Lord, if this is all you have left for me, I want to go home,” she admitted.

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“I wanted to die a few times,” she continued. “I wasn’t going to hurt myself. I wasn’t going to kill myself. I just didn’t want to be here – as blessed as I am.”

However, with the help of physical and stem cell therapy, she’s now able to be more active and present for her grandkids. “They’re all fantastic,” Kathie Lee gushed. “I’m hoping, Lord willing, that I have many, many years with them.”

Kathie Lee on pushing her body throughout her “physical” career

Looking back on her illustrious career as a performer, she noted that “a lot of it was physical,” adding: “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.”

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She continued: “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.’ I’ve never abused [my body], I just used it.”

Kathie Lee recalled the words of her late husband Frank Gifford, who passed away in 2015, about how he wanted to still be himself in public, despite whatever physical limitations he experienced in his later years. “Frank said to me before he passed, ‘When I go somewhere, I know what people are expecting from me. I want to be Frank Gifford when I go out’.”

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“I want to be Kathie Lee, the person they expect. I don’t want to disappoint people. But when you’re in pain, it’s so debilitating, and everything’s a grimace. I’ve had emotional pain many times in my life, but never this chronic physical pain where you literally want to go home to Jesus.”