By . Meghan Keneally and James Nye . PUBLISHED: . 01:33 EST, 11 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:05 EST, 11 October 2013 . Legendary P.I: Joe Mullen a licensed New York private eye has has confirmed that Frank Gifford was Joanne Carson¿s alleged secret lover . Johnny Carson's wife Joanne was having an affair with former NFL star Frank Gifford revealed legendary New York private eye Joe Mullen on Thursday. Mullen was named by Carson's former lawyer and one-time best friend Henry Bushkin as one of three other men hired by the late-night television star to break into the secret Manhattan apartment of his second wife in 1970. Backing up Bushkin's claim that the gang discovered cast-iron evidence Carson's wife was indeed carrying-on with Gifford, Mullen also confirms that 'The Tonight Show' host broke down in tears when her infidelity dawned on him. Mullen told the New York Post's Page Six, 'I confirm I was present, indeed an eyewitness to the events described by the author as the so-called ‘break-in’ of the apartment used by Johnny Carson’s wife, Joanne. The head of the J.T. Mullen agency said, 'Break-in is a bit of a misnomer as no locks were picked and no windows broken. 'The group of us who accompanied Carson managed to convince the person on duty to let us into the apartment where we confirmed Carson’s suspicions, finding various framed photos of his wife with football legend Frank Gifford . . . and Gifford’s clothes were in a closet along with a bathrobe.' While Mullen, who has worked as a private investigator in the Big Apple since he was 16 does not claim that he saw that Carson was carrying a .38 revolver, he does say that the popular personality cried. In Happier Times: Johnny Carson and his bride, . actress-model JoAnne Copeland, are shown after their marriage in August . 1963 at left, and Frank Gifford is seen at right in his NY Giants . uniform that same year . 'At one point, Johnny leaned against the wall and began to sob. Once we had our evidence, we whisked him out of the apartment as quickly as we could.' Described as being straight out of Mickey Spillane, Mullen's revelations contradict those of Frank Gifford's current wife, 'Today Show' presenter Kathie Lee Gifford. The morning talk show host said on Tuesday that her 83-year-old husband could not remember whether or not he had an affair with Johnny Carson's second wife, as Carson's friend alleged in a new tell-all book. The affair between former NFL star Gifford and Joanne Carson reportedly took place in 1970, while Gifford was married to his first wife Maxine. Still together: This is not the first time that infidelity has been an issue for the former NFL star as his marriage to Kathie Lee (seen together in April) was rocked in 1997 from an affair . Reading the news: Kathie Lee opened up about the issue during her portion of the Today Show on Tuesday . Gifford married Maxine, his college sweetheart, in 1952 and were together for 26 years which means that the alleged Carson affair would have come during that time. 'I got the call and Frank was still asleep and... (she said) "Tell me, tell me! It was a long time ago. Did you have an affair with her?"' she recalled saying. 'I can't remember, maybe?' she said as her husband's response. 'No it's not true,' she followed up quickly. She was clear not to make total light of the claims, however, as she even threw in a jab about her husband's much publicized affair with a stewardess during their own marriage that was made public after it was revealed that the woman was paid by a tabloid to arrange the trysts. 'Although the man is capable of it as you know. It's not- he was friends with Joanne,' Kathie Lee said. Expressive: Kathie Lee made light of the alleged affair, saying that her husband can't remember . Co-host Hoda Kotb held up one of the local newspapers that had the story splayed across the front page where Gifford is pictured with his then-wife Maxine and Joanne Carson is pictured with her then-husband, famed Tonight Show host Johnny. Kotb mentioned that she thought that was Joanne in both pictures, and Kathie Lee was quick to note the similarities. 'She does look a little like Joanne doesn't she?' she said. 'It's never a dull moment in our house!' The news of the alleged Gifford-Carson affair broke on Monday when Carson's friend Henry Bushkin released an excerpt of his tell-all book where he details how he and Johnny broke into a secret apartment that Joanne was leasing without his knowledge. Loved Across The Nation: In this undated photo provided by NBC, Johnny Carson begins an episode of the "Tonight Show" as "Carnac, The Magnificent!" Cheating past: Frank had two trysts with flight . attendant Suzen Johnson (left) in 1997 while he was married to Kathie . Lee (seen here in 2000) 'I have reason to believe my wife is cheating on me,' Carson reportedly told Bushkin. 'I also have an idea who the son of a b**** is that she's shacking up with.' When they arrived at the apartment and saw six or seven framed photos of Gifford, who was also on television as a frequent commenter for Monday Night Football, Carson began to cry. Now 70-years-old, Bushkin's revelatory tale is just one of many he recounts in his memoir, 'Johnny Carson', that charts the 18-years he worked for the comedian as his lawyer, wingman, fixer and closest confidant and hits bookshelves on October 15th. Gifford's well-publicized infidelities of the past add some semblance of credibility to the claims, as his affair with flight attendant Suzen Johnson in 1997 was splashed across New York City papers throughout the ordeal. It came after he and Kathie Lee touted the strength of their marriage in infomercials for a marriage counselor and after they both told different versions of their personal histories in their respective biographies. According to a 1997 article in People Magazine, Frank wrote about his cheating past but said that his third wife, Kathie Lee, cured him of that. 'I get along great with women, but there's no sexual undercurrent anymore,' he wrote in his 1994 biography. Kathie Lee made light of his lady-killer past, saying that his sole indiscretion 'was the time he sleepwalked in the nude and wound up in the nanny's bedroom'.
New York private investigator Joe Mullen claims Johnny Carson's second wife Joanne did have an affair with ex-NFL star Frank Gifford .
Johnny Carson's friend witnessed .
the Tonight Show host secretly break into his wife Joanne's apartment in .
1970 to see if she was cheating on him .
Discovered six or seven pictures of NFL legend Frank Gifford in the home .
Frank Gifford was married to his first wife Maxine at the time .
They eventually split and now he is married to talk show host Kathie Lee .
By . Meghan Keneally and James Nye . PUBLISHED: . 01:33 EST, 11 October 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 06:05 EST, 11 October 2013 . Legendary P.I: Joe Mullen a licensed New York private eye has has confirmed that Frank Gifford was Joanne Carson¿s alleged secret lover . Johnny Carson's wife Joanne was having an affair with former NFL star Frank Gifford revealed legendary New York private eye Joe Mullen on Thursday. Mullen was named by Carson's former lawyer and one-time best friend Henry Bushkin as one of three other men hired by the late-night television star to break into the secret Manhattan apartment of his second wife in 1970. Backing up Bushkin's claim that the gang discovered cast-iron evidence Carson's wife was indeed carrying-on with Gifford, Mullen also confirms that 'The Tonight Show' host broke down in tears when her infidelity dawned on him. Mullen told the New York Post's Page Six, 'I confirm I was present, indeed an eyewitness to the events described by the author as the so-called ‘break-in’ of the apartment used by Johnny Carson’s wife, Joanne. The head of the J.T. Mullen agency said, 'Break-in is a bit of a misnomer as no locks were picked and no windows broken. 'The group of us who accompanied Carson managed to convince the person on duty to let us into the apartment where we confirmed Carson’s suspicions, finding various framed photos of his wife with football legend Frank Gifford . . . and Gifford’s clothes were in a closet along with a bathrobe.' While Mullen, who has worked as a private investigator in the Big Apple since he was 16 does not claim that he saw that Carson was carrying a .38 revolver, he does say that the popular personality cried. In Happier Times: Johnny Carson and his bride, . actress-model JoAnne Copeland, are shown after their marriage in August . 1963 at left, and Frank Gifford is seen at right in his NY Giants . uniform that same year . 'At one point, Johnny leaned against the wall and began to sob. Once we had our evidence, we whisked him out of the apartment as quickly as we could.' Described as being straight out of Mickey Spillane, Mullen's revelations contradict those of Frank Gifford's current wife, 'Today Show' presenter Kathie Lee Gifford. The morning talk show host said on Tuesday that her 83-year-old husband could not remember whether or not he had an affair with Johnny Carson's second wife, as Carson's friend alleged in a new tell-all book. The affair between former NFL star Gifford and Joanne Carson reportedly took place in 1970, while Gifford was married to his first wife Maxine. Still together: This is not the first time that infidelity has been an issue for the former NFL star as his marriage to Kathie Lee (seen together in April) was rocked in 1997 from an affair . Reading the news: Kathie Lee opened up about the issue during her portion of the Today Show on Tuesday . Gifford married Maxine, his college sweetheart, in 1952 and were together for 26 years which means that the alleged Carson affair would have come during that time. 'I got the call and Frank was still asleep and... (she said) "Tell me, tell me! It was a long time ago. Did you have an affair with her?"' she recalled saying. 'I can't remember, maybe?' she said as her husband's response. 'No it's not true,' she followed up quickly. She was clear not to make total light of the claims, however, as she even threw in a jab about her husband's much publicized affair with a stewardess during their own marriage that was made public after it was revealed that the woman was paid by a tabloid to arrange the trysts. 'Although the man is capable of it as you know. It's not- he was friends with Joanne,' Kathie Lee said. Expressive: Kathie Lee made light of the alleged affair, saying that her husband can't remember . Co-host Hoda Kotb held up one of the local newspapers that had the story splayed across the front page where Gifford is pictured with his then-wife Maxine and Joanne Carson is pictured with her then-husband, famed Tonight Show host Johnny. Kotb mentioned that she thought that was Joanne in both pictures, and Kathie Lee was quick to note the similarities. 'She does look a little like Joanne doesn't she?' she said. 'It's never a dull moment in our house!' The news of the alleged Gifford-Carson affair broke on Monday when Carson's friend Henry Bushkin released an excerpt of his tell-all book where he details how he and Johnny broke into a secret apartment that Joanne was leasing without his knowledge. Loved Across The Nation: In this undated photo provided by NBC, Johnny Carson begins an episode of the "Tonight Show" as "Carnac, The Magnificent!" Cheating past: Frank had two trysts with flight . attendant Suzen Johnson (left) in 1997 while he was married to Kathie . Lee (seen here in 2000) 'I have reason to believe my wife is cheating on me,' Carson reportedly told Bushkin. 'I also have an idea who the son of a b**** is that she's shacking up with.' When they arrived at the apartment and saw six or seven framed photos of Gifford, who was also on television as a frequent commenter for Monday Night Football, Carson began to cry. Now 70-years-old, Bushkin's revelatory tale is just one of many he recounts in his memoir, 'Johnny Carson', that charts the 18-years he worked for the comedian as his lawyer, wingman, fixer and closest confidant and hits bookshelves on October 15th. Gifford's well-publicized infidelities of the past add some semblance of credibility to the claims, as his affair with flight attendant Suzen Johnson in 1997 was splashed across New York City papers throughout the ordeal. It came after he and Kathie Lee touted the strength of their marriage in infomercials for a marriage counselor and after they both told different versions of their personal histories in their respective biographies. According to a 1997 article in People Magazine, Frank wrote about his cheating past but said that his third wife, Kathie Lee, cured him of that. 'I get along great with women, but there's no sexual undercurrent anymore,' he wrote in his 1994 biography. Kathie Lee made light of his lady-killer past, saying that his sole indiscretion 'was the time he sleepwalked in the nude and wound up in the nanny's bedroom'.
having an affair with former NFL star Frank Gifford revealed legendary New York private eye Joe Mullen on Thursday. Mullen was named by the late-night television star to break into the wife with football legend Frank Gifford . . . and private investigator in the Big Apple since he morning talk show host said on Tuesday that her not he had an affair with Johnny Carson's second in 1970, while Gifford was married to his first wife Maxine. Still together: This is not the Joanne,' Kathie Lee said. Expressive: Kathie Lee Tonight Show host Johnny. Kotb mentioned that she six or seven framed photos of Gifford, who was