Kathie Lee Gifford and her daughter Cassidy star in a new series, ‘The Baxters’
Kathie Lee Gifford explains why she won’t do ‘The Golden Bachelorette’
Kathie Lee Gifford, who co-stars in 'The Baxters' with daughter Cassidy Gifford, told Fox News Digital why she has no interest in being on ‘The Golden Bachelorette.’
Kathie Lee Gifford is not ready to hand out any roses on "The Golden Bachelorette."
Gifford’s former "Today" co-host Hoda Kotb suggested her for the dating show, and when asked about it by Fox News Digital, she revealed she has zero interest.
"No, thank God," she said.
"Here's the thing. You know what you get when you get in a hot tub? Diseases, diseases," Gifford added. "And you know what happens when you start kissing on people that you have no idea where their lips have been? It's just dumb. So, until you have a trust with someone … they don't give you much time before they want you in the hot tub.
Kathie Lee Gifford told Fox News Digital she had no interest in being on "The Golden Bachelorette," even though she had "talked to producers about it." (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
"I've talked to the producers about it, and they said, ‘We realized it would be a different kind of show if you do it.’ I said, ‘Uhhh yeah!’ So, I don't see it happening."
Gifford said her son, Cody, would give the idea "a total yes."
WATCH: KATHIE LEE GIFFORD EXPLAINS WHY SHE WON’T DO "THE GOLDEN BACHELORETTE"
Her daughter, Cassidy Gifford, who was with her during the interview, said seeing her mom on "The Golden Bachelorette" is "a hard no for me" but added, "I have no control over my mother."
The mother-daughter duo appear in the upcoming Amazon series, "The Baxters," though they share no scenes.
Cassidy Gifford and her mom Kathie Lee both appear in the new Prime Video series "The Baxters." (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for COTA)
Based on the bestselling book series by Karen Kingsbury, and also starring and produced by Roma Downey, the series tells the story of the Baxter family with a faith-based focus on their journeys through life.
Gifford and Downey have been long-time friends since meeting on "Touched By an Angel," and the proud mom was excited for her daughter to be working with Downey.
"She's just one of the world's great special people," Gifford said of Downey. "I was just thrilled that Cass was going to be working with her. And Karen Kingsbury is a neighbor of mine in Tennessee and a friend. So, I just knew that she was going to be with strong, incredibly powerful and yet gentle, gentle and kind women."
"She is an actual angel," Cassidy added with a laugh, and Gifford agreed.
Roma Downey and Gifford have been long-time friends and appear in "The Baxters" together. (Prime Video/Joshua Applegate)
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"It was all about Cass working with the ladies," Gifford continued. "And then when I was asked to dive [in] … And then I think they must have written something for me pretty quick because, yeah, I was not trying to steal the show."
For her role, Cassidy felt "very similar" to her character, so she didn’t have to go in depth to prepare, "other than really reading the books, trying to understand how to bring a little bit more of myself in the areas that were a little bit different.
"But, ultimately, Karen and Roma gave me kind of a lot of free rein to just bring myself to it, which wasn't too far off from what the actual material was. So, it wasn't a huge challenge, which actually made it a lot of fun because it felt very real for me.
WATCH: KATHIE LEE GIFFORD’S DAUGHTER CASSIDY EXPLAINS HER CONNECTION TO HER CHARACTER IN ‘THE BAXTERS’
"They also allowed a lot of room for improv from people," Cassidy added. "As long as you didn't, you know, [go] too far off from the source material."
Cassidy, here with co-star Josh Plasse, said she and her character, Reagan, are "very similar." (Prime Video/Joshua Applegate)
Cassidy and her mom have worked together on other projects in the past, and she revealed Gifford has given her sound advice on her career.
"She would always say that someone's always going to be prettier, smarter, funnier. There's going to be a million different things that someone's going to be. But if you can be the kindest and the hardest working, then, no matter what, that's paramount to all of it. Because how you treat people is what matters, and that will carry you through the rest of your career, your life, and that's in any aspect of your life.
WATCH: KATHIE LEE GIFFORD AND HER DAUGHTER TALK ABOUT WORKING WITH ROMA DOWNEY ON ‘THE BAXTERS’
"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."
Gifford objected that she’d never called anyone "prettier," adding "I’m her mother, sorry!"
Cassidy said some of the best advice her mom has given her includes "how you treat people is what matters, and that will carry you through the rest of your career, your life, and that's in any aspect of your life." (Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
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But she agreed with kindness being key to success.
"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.
"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."
One area of life where Gifford doesn’t try to offer advice to Cassidy is marriage and parenting.
Cassidy married Ben Wierda in 2020 in "an intimate setting in his backyard in Michigan," her manager told Fox News in a statement at the time. The couple welcomed a baby boy, Finn, in 2023. Her brother, Cody, married Erika Brown in 2020, and has two sons, Frank, in honor of his dad and Gifford's husband, Frank Gifford, and Ford.
"She doesn't ask me much about anything because she's a natural at it," Gifford said, adding Wierda is "a wonderful guy."
WATCH: KATHIE LEE GIFFORD EXPLAINS WHY SHE DIDN’T OFFER MARRIAGE ADVICE TO HER KIDS
Gifford recalled knowing Wierda and his family "long before they fell in love."
"But I got a feeling. I mean, we used to say we'd see them playing together and out in the water, you know, fooling around or something,. ‘Those two are going to get married. Those two are gonna get married.’ There's no way they weren't. And darned if they didn't."
Gifford said she prayed for her children to find their perfect spouses because "that's really such an important choice that a child makes." (Greg Doherty/WireImage)
Gifford said she used to pray for her children’s spouses during her pregnancies because "that's really such an important choice that a child makes."
But she vowed not to butt in after a certain age.
"I said, I'm not going to say a word to them after they're 21 because I've raised them. They know right from wrong, they know good from evil. And they are really kind and smart people who have their own faith, their individual walk with God. I've never tried to cookie cutter my kids. You want to ruin them? Try to do that."
"The Baxters" will be available on March 28, exclusively on Prime Video.
