It’s been five years since Kathie Lee Gifford’s husband Frank Gifford passed away at the age of 84, yet her connection to him is as strong as ever.

“I hear him in my head all the time, encouraging me and cheerleading me,” Gifford admitted to Entertainment Tonight. “He was a football player, but he was my cheerleader and he was so excited about all of the different projects I had.”

“It is going to take a very, very special person if I ever do get married again, and frankly I can’t see that happening,” she added. Gifford went on to say that while she is “not looking,” she’s open to the idea of finding love again.

“If it finds me, I will rejoice, and if it doesn’t, I am so doggone busy. I am not sure I would know honestly, and I am doing now what I have dreamed of doing since I was a child,” Gifford said. “Whatever happens in my life, I want it to be authentic, not manipulated by anything, and totally of the Lord.”

This comes two months after the death of Gifford’s former daytime talk show host Regis Philbin, who died back in July at the age of 88. Gifford became emotional as she talked about her last time seeing Philbin before his passing. Before they met for lunch, Philbin had asked his wife, Joy, to wash his hair so he could “look good for Kath.”

“As soon as he sat down for lunch, I said, ‘Regis, you still have the greatest head of hair!’ And then he goes, ‘I do?’ He knew he looked handsome,” Gifford remembered. “The next day when I was with [Joy] after he had passed, she said, ‘Kathy, that was the last time I heard Regis laugh, when we all had lunch together.'”

“I knew it was going to be the last time that I’d see him. He was very frail by then and he was ready. You know ,you get tired in this life, you get tired,” she continued. “And I’m so happy for him now, he’s rejoicing. He’s putting on shows for Jesus.”

Gifford couldn’t help but laugh as she remembered Philbin, saying, “‘Regis is here!’ He went into Heaven going, ‘Hey everybody! Regis is here!'”

This piece originally appeared in UpliftingToday.com and is used by permission.

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