Kathie Lee Gifford is not offended that The Bachelor star Joey Graziadei is unfamiliar with her work.
“I don’t expect him to know me. I’ve got shoes that are older than this kid is,” Gifford, 70, wrote via X on Wednesday, February 28, alongside a clip from Graziadei’s appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark earlier this month.
In the video, cohost Kelly Ripa asked Graziadei, 28, what he thought about speculation that Gifford might become the first Golden Bachelorette after Gerry Turner kicked off the Golden Bachelor spinoff last year.
“I will be honest, I have no idea who Kathie Lee Gifford is,” Graziadei replied, eliciting laughter, boos and cries of shock from the audience.
“I’m only 28, I’m sorry!” he said in his own defense.
“He’s 28 years old, calm down,” Ripa, 53, echoed.
Gifford hosted a previous iteration of Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ morning talk show, Live With Regis and Kathie Lee, from 1985 to 2000. She went on to cohost Today With Kathie Lee & Hoda from 2008 to 2019.
Gifford’s former coanchor Hoda Kotb put her name out there as a potential Golden Bachelorette star during an episode of Today With Hoda & Jenna earlier this month.
As guest Justin Sylvester pointed out several Golden Bachelor alums likely to be in the running, Kotb, 59, said, “We’ve already figured it out.” She and cohost Jenna Bush Hager then said Gifford’s name at the same time.
“She would be perfect. She would be a 10 plus and she’d get her choice of all the men. You know how she is, all flirty and cute … She’d be fantastic,” Kotb gushed.
After Bush Hager, 42, emphasized that their casting opinion is “unconfirmed,” Kotb added, “Well, that’s because we’re starting to speak things into existence. We’re saying the truth: that Kathie Lee would be fantastic.”
While Gifford joining Bachelor Nation is just a pipe dream for now, Graziadei became the latest Bachelor after placing second on Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette last year.
With just four contestants left on his season — Daisy Kent, Kelsey Anderson, Maria Georgas and Rachel Nance — Graziadei will visit the remaining women’s hometowns with them during the Monday, March 4, episode.
During a Thursday, February 29, appearance on the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, Graziadei recalled how he felt before filming the hometown episode.
“At this point, going into hometowns, I was probably 70/30 [or] 80/20 [percent confident it would work] because I could see the relationships were getting there but we hadn’t gotten to the point of anyone expressing that they’re actually in love with me, if there’s real feelings, if they could see a future,” he explained. “Those conversations come later on and during it, I think that what you’re feeling is, ‘Is it going to keep progressing?’ Because it is right now but, ‘Is it going to get there?’”
Graziadei added that he wasn’t “quick to judge” if something felt “a little off” with a contestant’s family members.
“There’s so many dynamics and things that might affect whether it goes well or not,” he said. “If I felt any pushback from a family member, I would want to learn and ask more about why. Because I think that it’s important to understand it and not just go with how they’re feeling.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
