Kathie Lee Gifford reveals who she beat out for iconic Carnival Cruise Line gig (Exclusive)
Kathie Lee Gifford beat out some legendary people for her iconic Carnival Cruise Lines gig back in 1984.
The former "Today" show co-host became the face of the cruise company in the 1980s when it launched the cruise industry's first-ever national television campaign, singing the catchy "Ain't We Got Fun" jingle as she paraded through Carnival's fleet of "Fun Ships" in a variety of very '80s ensembles. It was a project that, in conjunction with her spot on "Good Morning America," helped her become a nationally-recognized TV personality.
During an exclusive interview with AOL's Gibson Johns aboard the newly renovated Carnival Sunrise, Gifford recalled that "pivotal moment" in her life and the "long story about the people who were way ahead of me in line" to nab the coveted spokeswoman role.
"I was, like, fifth choice for the role of spokesperson," Gifford laughed. "I was on 'Good Morning America,' so they didn't know that I could sing. I had done 'Name That Tune' in 1977, and this was in 1984, but there was no such thing as Google back then."
"It’s a very funny, long story about the people who were way ahead of me in line. I know who they were, and they’re all great ladies, but I won by default," Gifford went on. "Bernadette Peters was one of them. She took herself out. She wouldn’t go in the sun. Sandy Duncan was also doing Triscuit; Joyce DeWit; Cathy Lee Crosby had taken an unfortunate picture in the Bahamas at the opening of a restaurant in the cement, and I was like, 'It’s mine!'"
At the end of the day, though, Gifford believes that she was the "right choice" for the ad campaign, which was integral in changing the public's perception of cruising in general, helping to launch it into the $100 billion cruise industry that it exists today, 35 years later.
"When we started out, only two percent of the country had ever been on a cruise. The only image to cruising was that it was something you did when you had nothing else to do and you’re old and you go to Alaska," Gifford explained. "It was a brilliant ad campaign, and I think it was the right product with the right jingle with the right personality. I ended up being the right choice. I know that, just because of my personality."
For Gifford, the gig was a definite risk but, as she explained it, she's never been a risk-averse person. In fact, risks are what define her careers most defining acts.
"We were very, very proud of the fact that, when we first started, it was the very first national ad campaign for a cruise line and it was very risky, but I always liked that stuff," she said. "What I did with Regis had never been done before, what I did with Hoda had never been done before and you’ve just got to take a little risk. Believe in it and then work your tush off at it."
One year after her first ad for Carnival Cruise Lines, which now carries her GIFFT Wines line across its entire fleet, debuted in 1984, Gifford signed on to co-host "The Morning Show" alongside Regis Philbin, a local New York news program that would be renamed "Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee" and go national in 1988. She would remain on the wildly popular program for 15 years.
"At that point I was doing 'Good Morning America,' and then the next year I joined Regis, so it was a double-whammy: That Carnival Cruise Lines girl from 'Good Morning America' who’s now doing 'Regis and Kathie Lee,'" Gifford recalled of the exciting time. "It was a local show, but it was a huge, huge successful local show in New York. I’ve never been one of those people who is strategic and maps out what their career is going to do. I live by faith, not by sight. I pray about everything and then I wait for God to lead me."
"Except for that first marriage [to Paul Johnson], it’s all been pretty good," she laughed. "I guess I wasn’t listening at that point, but it’s all worked out the way it was supposed to. When I look back on all these years -- I’m on my fifty-fifth year singing and acting, and now I’m directing and writing … if you name it -- except for porn -- I’m doing it, and that’s only because my career opportunities have dried up."
Learn more about Carnival Cruise Line's Carnival Sunrise here.
