Kathie Lee Gifford Says She's 'Open' to Dating After Moving to Nashville (Exclusive)

Kathie Lee Gifford is ready for love!

ET's Lauren Zima caught up with the 66-year-old former Today show host at the Recording Academy and Clive Davis' pre-GRAMMY gala over the weekend, and she revealed she's single and looking to mingle.

"Of course I'm open [to dating]! Who says I'm not dating somebody?" she quipped, before adding that she would "never" say who she's seeing someone because "it could be over by tomorrow."

Though Gifford admitted that she's "very picky" about her potential partner, she added that she's not looking to replace her husband, Frank Gifford, who died in 2015.

"I don't expect any man to ever fill my husband's cleats, nobody will ever be Frank Gifford," she said. "I'm not looking for that. I'm not looking for anything. If he comes along, I'll know. I'm not looking, I'm busy."

Now that she's settled in Nashville, Tennessee, Gifford said she meets lots of "nice people" by simply "doing life," and thanks to the city's "culture of kindness."

"The life in Nashville's amazing. [I love] the community there," she gushed. "...There's great music. People love God. They love my wine! So, come on. They love to dance. There are church bells ringing. It's just exactly what my soul needed."

The move down south came when Gifford departed the Today show after more than a decade.

"I was dying on the vine creatively," she explained of the reason for her exit. "I love Hoda [Kotb], I love everybody at the Today show, but I'm an artist and I have to write music, I have to write oratorios, I have to write books."

"I found a group of people down there that let me just be me with no boundaries," Gifford continued. "And I don't have to take care of anybody anymore in my life. It's a new chapter that way. You miss the people you love that have gone on, but it frees you up in a way to become something you've only ever dreamed of being."

On the professional end, Gifford said that she plans to spend 2020 focusing on doing "the work God's put me on this Earth to do."

"I'm going to go back to Israel and will shoot three more oratorio films with amazing artists. I have a couple of movies coming out this year; one with Craig Ferguson that's finally coming out that I wrote and produced in Scotland. Fun stuff!" she said. "I have two new books coming out. Busier than ever."

RELATED CONTENT:

Kathie Lee Gifford's Daughter Cassidy Engaged

Kathie Lee Gifford Returns to the 'Today' Show, Opens Up About Her Dating Life

Kathie Lee Gifford Dances and Cuddles Up to Insurance Agent Randall Cronk at Concert in Tennessee

Related Gallery

Celeb Couples Pack on the PDA