41 Facts About Phil McGraw

Phil McGraw holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased renewing his license to practice psychology in 2006.

Phil McGraw grew up with two older sisters, Deana and Donna, and younger sister Brenda in the oilfields of North Texas where his father was an equipment supplier.

Phil McGraw moved to Kansas with his father as the latter pursued his lifelong goal of becoming a psychologist.

Phil McGraw played linebacker on the high school football team and, in 1968, earned a football scholarship to the University of Tulsa where he played middle linebacker under coach Glenn Dobbs.

In October 1991, six years after joining Box, the younger Phil McGraw sold his share in the company for $325,000.

In 1990, Phil McGraw co-founded Courtroom Sciences, Inc, a trial consulting firm, with lawyer Gary Dobbs.

CSI would perform "dry runs" of court cases in simulated courtrooms, and Phil McGraw would offer advice about what parts of the lawyer's case worked and what parts did not.

Phil McGraw is no longer an officer or director of the company.

In 1995, Oprah Winfrey hired Phil McGraw's legal consulting firm CSI to prepare her for the Amarillo Texas beef trial.

Phil McGraw's appearance proved so successful that he began appearing weekly as a relationship and life strategy expert on Tuesdays, starting in April 1998.

In September 2002, McGraw formed Peteski Productions and launched his own syndicated daily television show, Dr Phil, produced by Winfrey's Harpo Studios.

Dr Phil is an advice show in which McGraw tackles a different topic each show, offering advice to his guests.

In 2007, Phil McGraw was named 30th on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list.

On May 21,2007, Dr Phil McGraw was ranked fourth by Nielsen Media Research, with 6.69 million viewers.

At that time, the only talk show more popular than Dr Phil McGraw was The Oprah Winfrey Show.

On December 11,2018, Dr Phil McGraw was the top syndicated show with a "2.9 live-plus-same-day" national Nielsen rating, ranking first among talk shows for the 117th consecutive week.

Phil McGraw's ranking improved, and by 2020, he was in the 22nd spot on the aforementioned Forbes list with earnings of $65.5 million.

In 2006, the Dr Phil McGraw House began airing as part of the Dr Phil McGraw television show.

Late in 2007, McGraw began promoting the Dr Phil Show spinoff series The Doctors.

In November 2023, Phil McGraw announced Merit Street Media, a new Fort Worth-based media company and television network he planned to launch in 2024.

In 2012, Phil McGraw founded the telehealth company Doctor On Demand, an online platform that allows individuals to schedule virtual appointments with a network of physicians and therapists.

Phil McGraw launched a web and mobile service in 2014.

Phil McGraw frequently advises individuals to seek professional help, particularly psychotherapy.

The study attributed this phenomenon to viewers' tendency to form a parasocial bond with Phil McGraw through watching the show, and have increased belief in their ability to seek help.

In 1971, Phil McGraw lived in Topeka, Kansas, and ran the Grecian Health Spa alongside his father and two friends.

Phil McGraw abruptly closed the business, filed for bankruptcy and moved out of state in September 1973.

Phil McGraw had sold the lifetime membership contracts customers had signed to another company, resulting in customers being still legally responsible for the membership even though the spa was closed.

Phil McGraw was signing up hundreds of customers to long, expensive contracts, then turning around and selling the contracts to a financial institution for a percentage of the total value up front in cash.

Phil McGraw stopped renewing his Texas license to practice psychology in 2006; he has never had a license in California, where his show is taped.

In 2002, the California Board of Psychology determined that, because Phil McGraw's television show was more about entertainment than psychology, Phil McGraw did not need a license.

In 2003, Phil McGraw lent his name and image to a line of nutritional supplements, including vitamin packets, meal replacement drinks, and power bars under the brand name Shape Up, under a licensing agreement with CSA Nutraceuticals, a Texas start-up.

In 2006, Phil McGraw was named a co-defendant, along with Paramount, CBS Television, and others, in a 2006 lawsuit filed concerning the disappearance of Natalee Holloway.

Immediately after the visit, Phil McGraw issued public statements about Spears' situation that the Spears' family spokeswoman Lou Taylor said violated their family's trust in Phil McGraw.

Later that year, McGraw was sued by Thomas Riccio, the memorabilia collector responsible for taping the Las Vegas robbery that led to O J Simpson's conviction.

Riccio sued McGraw in Los Angeles Superior Court for defamation and other complaints, stemming from an interview he did on the Dr Phil Show which aired on October 8,2008.

Phil McGraw was criticized for an interview featuring former actress Shelley Duvall, which aired in 2016.

Phil McGraw married his first wife, Debbie Higgins McCall, in 1970, when he was 20 years old.

Phil McGraw claimed that she was confined to domestic duties and instructed to begin lifting weights to improve her bustline.

Phil McGraw is a private pilot, with an instrument rating, flying single-engine airplanes.

Phil McGraw launched a Dr Phil Foundation charity in October 2003.

Phil McGraw endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 United States presidential election.