Kathie Lee Gifford has opened up about the “debilitating” chronic pain she has endured in recent years, brought on by the demanding “physical” nature of her career.In the past two years, the former Today show host, 72, has undergone a series of procedures: a total hip replacement in 2024, followed by a second surgery after she overextended herself during the recovery period, and more recently, a cataract surgery.The pain was so unbearable that Gifford “wanted to die a few times,” she admitted in a new interview with People. “I wasn’t going to hurt myself. I wasn’t going to kill myself,” she clarified. “I just didn’t want to be here — as blessed as I am.”Looking back at her decades-long career in the entertainment industry, Gifford recalled: “A lot of it was physical. I remember doing Annie at Madison Square Garden for five weeks over Christmastime [in 2006], and I played Miss Hannigan. I wanted to make it big so that the little kids sitting could see it. I did pratfalls.“When I look back on all of these years in this industry, I go, ‘I can’t believe I didn’t fall apart years ago,’” she noted. “I’ve never abused [my body], I just used it.”Kathie Lee Gifford has undergone several different surgeries in recent years (Getty)In addition to the numerous surgeries, Gifford has suffered several broken bones from various accidents, including tripping on uneven pavement. “I feel like Mr. Potato Head! One thing falls off and then another,” the former Live with Regis and Kathie Lee co-anchor quipped. “But you have to have a sense of humor about everything. Thank God I’ve never lost that, even in my bleakest moments. I’m a tough broad.”Gifford said that thanks to her multiple surgeries, stem cell therapy and six-day-a-week physical therapy sessions, she is finally able to run “all over the place” with her five grandchildren.Gifford previously co-hosted ABC’s morning show alongside TV legend Regis Philbin (Andrew H Walker/Getty Images fo Greenwich Film Festival 2015)Gifford previously co-hosted Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee alongside the late legendary TV icon from 1985 to 2000. During her tenure on the ABC morning show, she earned eight joint Daytime Emmy nominations with Philbin.After his death in 2020 at the age of 88, Gifford remembered the final time she had seen him shortly before he died. “I sensed much more fragility that I’d seen in him since the last time [I’d seen him] in January in Los Angeles,” she said on the Today show. “We just had the best time, and after they left I thought to myself, ‘Lord, is that the last time I’m going to see my friend?’ Because he was failing, I could tell.”After a nearly 10-year hiatus from morning TV, Gifford returned in 2008, joining Hoda Kotb to co-anchor the Today show. She went on to win her first Daytime Emmy in 2010 as part of the Today team. Gifford announced her departure in December 2018, with her final episode airing in April 2019.