On October 18, 1986, Gifford married ABC's Monday Night Football sports broadcaster and former NFL starĀ Frank Gifford, whom she had met on the set of GMA. Gifford quickly became America's television sweetheart. The live 15-minute "host chat" that opened each show had nationwide appeal and made Gifford and Philbin instant celebrities. Two months after their first show aired, The Morning Show knocked Phil Donahue out of first place in the tri-state area, and in 1988, as arranged through an agreement between WABC and Buena Vista Television, Live With Regis & Kathie Lee became nationally syndicated. After divorcing her first husband in 1982, Gifford made the move to New York City and began to appear on the nationally televised show. She asked Gifford to do some reporting and occasionally substitute for Joan Lunden on GMA in New York. Susan Winston, an executive producer of Good Morning America ( GMA) happened to be listening and was immediately drawn to Gifford's talent and freshness. Los Angeles, and Gifford substituted as host for two days. In 1981, Regis Philbin left his post at the radio show A.M.
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From 1977-78, Gifford was the featured singer on Name That Tune, replacing song lyrics with "la-la's." This exposure generated a slew of career opportunities, including a part in the TV sitcom Hee Haw Honeys, and gigs as the opening act for such comics as Bill Cosby, Shecky Green and Rich Little in Reno and Lake Tahoe casinos.
She also worked on commercial jingles and made several TV pilots. While visiting a friend on the set of the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives, she was hired to play Nurse Callahan, which she did for nine months. Gifford simultaneously began to work on her own, more secular career. Gifford quickly became aware of the manipulation going on behind Roberts' charismatic veneer and dropped out of the university during her junior year. Beginning in 1972, Gifford sang on Oral Roberts' television show broadcast from Burbank, California, and traveled throughout the Bible Belt attending revival meetings.
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However, Bryant had already secured a full scholarship for Gifford at the evangelical Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, as well as a place in Roberts' World Action Singers. Wanting no part of the hypocrisy, Gifford opted to leave. She realized that the couple's loveless marriage was merely a front for their careers and that their family life lay in shambles. Gifford agreed and spent a disillusioning year babysitting, doing secretarial work and occasionally singing in Southern Baptist churches.
Bryant immediately saw Gifford's potential as a Christian entertainer and invited her to live and work with her and her husband, Bob Green, at their home in Key Biscayne, Florida. There she met Anita Bryant, a prominent Christian singer and co-host of the pageant. At 17, Gifford won her state Junior Miss pageant and traveled to Mobile, Alabama, to represent Maryland in the nationwide competition.