Hoda Kotb has seemingly confirmed that former Today star, Kathie Lee Gifford is now single after splitting from her boyfriend of two years, Richard Spitz.
The TV star, 59, and her co-host Jenna Bush Hager, 42, dropped a huge hint on Today with Hoda & Jenna on Monday when they said that Kathie Lee "would be perfect" to star in the inaugural season of The Golden Bachelorette.
The ABC reality show features men and women older than 60 trying to find love, and Hoda and Jenna teased that they "already figured out" who would be perfect for the series. Watch the video below...
"Kathie Lee Gifford!" they both exclaimed at the same time while discussing the show with E! News host Justin Sylvester.
While Justin wasn't convinced and said there is "not enough chardonnay in the world to get Kathie Lee there", Hoda – who has known Kathie Lee, 70, for almost two decades – seemed much more hopeful.
"Oh, you never know! She might!" Hoda teased.
© NBC"By the way, she would be a 10 plus, and she'd get her choice of all the men, and you know how she is all flirty and cute," she added.
Jenna agreed that Kathie Lee would be "great" on the dating series but clarified that the casting is "unconfirmed".
"Well, that's because we're starting to speak things into existence," Hoda replied before they both again agreed that Kathie Lee "would be fantastic".
© NBCKathie Lee hasn't confirmed that she and Richard have split, but she did share a telling post on Instagram on January 31.
The former Today star shared a quote from Psalm 28:7, which read: "The LORD is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart rejoices, and with my song I give thanks to Him."
Kathie and Richard kept their relationship out of the spotlight but have been pictured together on several occasions looking very much in love.
© NBCIn 2021, she returned to Today to catch up with her former co-stars, and while she didn't refer to Richard by his name, she did confirm she was in a "really special relationship".
"It's just happy, and I don't want to mess it up, and I probably already have by just even mentioning it," she told Savannah Guthrie, Al Roker, and Carson Daly at the time.
"To be in a place where you feel like every aspect of your life is good, that nothing's missing, that's a beautiful place to be. I'm just so grateful," she added.
© InstagramKathie Lee also gushed about her "smart" and "funny" new man on Today with Hoda & Jenna. "We have a great time together, and so, at this point in my life, that's exactly what I need and exactly what I want, you know?" she said at the time.
"Different seasons of life — we weren't meant to know each other before, it's right now," she added. "We don't know what the future holds at all, but we're having fun today."
Richard appears to have been Kathie Lee's first serious relationship since the death of husband, Frank Gifford – whom she was married to for almost three decades – in 2015.
© Getty Images"I think I dated four different gentlemen, and they're all great guys, but they're not the guy for me," she said in October 2020.
She added: "If I fall in love again, it will be because God just made it happen."
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