Tyler Henry: From Child Clairvoyant To Hollywood Medium

Tyler Henry, otherwise known as the Hollywood Medium — the name of his very first television show — is a highly sought-after clairvoyant medium who first gained fame when he was just 20 years old. During his time performing psychic readings for celebrities, Henry has worked with celebrities like Jim Parsons, Megan Fox, and three members of the Kardashian/Jenner family (Kylie, Kris, and Khloe). He's gone on multiple live tours, written books, and once again stars in a television show with Netflix's "Life After Death With Tyler Henry," which premiered in March 2022 and brought even more attention to the renowned medium — who, as the series reports, has a waiting list of over 300,000 people.

Henry has been in the spotlight for most, if not all, of his adulthood, but he wasn't really known for his gift by anyone other than locals in his small south-central California town — that is, until "Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry" premiered in 2016.

Here's a look at how the famous psychic got his start, what his life was like before he became a public figure, and how his life changed after "Hollywood Medium" wrapped in 2019. 

Tyler Henry Koelewyn was born on January 13, 1996, in the small town of Hanford, California. Henry's childhood seems to have been fairly typical — before the age of 10, that is. As he told the Asbury Park Press in 2018, Henry realized he had a unique intuition at this age. He woke up in the middle of the night with a feeling that his grandmother was going to die. He rushed to his mother's room to tell her and just as he was explaining what he described as a "knowingness," the phone rang with news that his grandmother had actually just passed away.

"It felt like a memory, almost as though it had already happened. It was really weird," Henry said of the experience. "So that was really the catalyst. But at 10 years old when something is happening, you don't call it a premonition. It took some time to really understand what was happening. I still don't entirely understand."

For the most part, Tyler Henry's family was supportive of his newly discovered skill as he was growing up, the Asbury Park Press reported in 2018. Apparently, though, Henry's father, David Koelewyn, was a skeptic at first. It wasn't until his son performed a significant reading on him using an old yearbook that Koelewyn changed his mind.

Although his father seems to prefer life away from the spotlight, Henry appears to maintain a very close relationship with Koelewyn. "Though you guys haven't seen him on ['Hollywood Medium'] as of yet, he's an incredible source of support and his encouragement gave me the strength to share my ability," Henry wrote in an Instagram post back in 2017. In another post about his father, he shared, "It's a privilege to have a dad that is someone I'd want to be friends with. His love for his child was stronger than any of the 'coming outs' he was met with as a parent."

As Tyler Henry grew up, he attempted to explore and gain more control of his psychic abilities in a number of ways, according to his website. One of the methods he used to practice and apply his gift was performing psychic readings on some of his classmates and teachers at Sierra Pacific High School, which helped spread the word about his unusual talent (via All American Entertainment Speakers Bureau).

Along with this, Henry used to do one-on-one readings for $40 a session and helped give grieving lessons at a local shop, The Cosmic Corral: Gifts for the Soul, The Outline reported. "He was 16, and he'd come in and linger, listen, watch. A very, very intelligent young man," Tom McGuire, one of the shop's owners who served as an early mentor for Henry, shared of the young medium. While most high school students work part-time jobs at restaurants or clothing stores at the local mall, Henry was focused on strengthening his spiritual skills in the little free time he had before and after leaving public school for homeschooling.

Homeschooling allowed Tyler Henry to graduate at the age of 16. He then enrolled in college at West Hills College in Coalinga, California, and started studying to become a hospice nurse (via The Outline). "I knew that I wanted to focus on [helping] people, and there I would still be able to deliver messages," he explained of his former career choice to Out in 2015.

According to his website, Henry at one point believed that his calling was to help people have a comfortable transition to "the other side." Still, he continued to regularly practice his abilities by giving private readings at a local bookstore when he wasn't studying.

Interestingly enough, Henry received a reading from another psychic who foresaw his success in the entertainment industry while he was still in college. "I got a reading from a woman who told me that when I was 19 I'd start filming a TV show, and that it would do well and that I'd write books and that was my life purpose. At the time I was open-minded but I said, 'I don't know how that could be.' And then sure enough, when I was 19 it all happened," he told Out.

As Tyler Henry continued down the path of becoming a professional hospice nurse in college, his talent was becoming a topic of conversation among A-Listers fewer than 200 miles south in Los Angeles, according to his website. Henry reportedly approached a Fresno talent agent, Carollyn DeVore, when he was 16 and she encouraged him to go to a talent search (via The Outline). When he did, he ended up meeting his first publicist, Ron Scott.

As Scott began to promote Henry in the Hollywood area, more and more celebrities began to book his private sessions — he was no longer only performing readings for friends and Hanford locals. Before long, Henry met Michael Corbett, an Emmy Award-winning actor and television host, at a 2013 Christmas party in Beverly Hills. Corbett was intrigued yet skeptical of Henry's supposed gift, and he immediately booked a private session. "By the end of the reading I was a firm believer and knew I had to create a TV show for him," Corbett admitted to TV Insider. Corbett went on to serve as the executive producer for this show, and the pair received an offer from E! Television Network for a show when Henry was only 19 years old. Thus, "Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry" was born.

During the four seasons of "Hollywood Medium," Tyler Henry performed readings for a wide range of celebrities — from Lizzo to RuPaul to Rebel Wilson. Henry garnered nearly 900,000 viewers per episode, according to The Wrap. As his website explains, Henry's psychic readings have even been known to convince skeptical celebrities that he has an undeniable gift. These former cynics include Moby and Dr. Drew.

"As a medium, I encourage skepticism. I encourage critical thinking. That's how we learn new things," Henry shared with the Los Angeles Daily News in March 2022. "Unfortunately there are a lot of people who are not legitimate, but in the same vein there's also cynics who have their own agendas as well, who aren't scientifically minded but claim to be," he previously revealed to The Outline.

In an especially emotional scene from the show's second season, actor Jaleel White cannot believe that Henry hadn't researched what he brought up in their session. "You've got to be messing with me now. You've got to be Googling this stuff before you come in here. You're messing with me," White repeats to Henry before revealing that the medium had passed along a message from one of his former "Family Matters" co-stars. In the episode, White sheds tears at the memory of his late friend, clearly overcome with emotion and shocked about Henry's gift.

Within the same year that "Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry" premiered, Tyler Henry released his first memoir, "Between Two Worlds: Lessons from the Other Side." The book, which was published in November 2016, discusses Henry's experience realizing his gift, the symbolism that is ever-present throughout his readings, and the kinds of lessons that we can take away from losing loved ones. The memoir offers fans a more complete look at the "Hollywood Medium" star, as his E! show focused more on his actual readings than his personal history. However, it also serves as a deeper exploration of his psychic process.

"Whether someone is grieving and looking for a resource for comfort, or they're just interested about how the process works, there's something to be gained in reading [my book]," Henry said of "Between Two Worlds" when speaking with the Hanford Sentinel in 2017.

In 2019, Tyler Henry announced a live show, "Life Lessons I've Learned from the Departed," that would take his fame to a whole new stage (literally). The show featured stories from his adolescence, anecdotes about particularly influential readings, and, arguably the most anticipated portion of the shows, live readings. "The goal is to leave people better than I found them," Henry said of live shows in an interview with Out in Jersey. Even for this famed physic, though, things don't always go as planned.

"In early 2020, I was set to do one of my live shows. Before the event, I was laying in bed, getting mentally ready for all of what I was about to do on stage, when suddenly I felt a chest pain," Henry shared during an episode of "Life After Death with Tyler Henry." He went on to explain that one of his lungs had collapsed. "Within moments, I needed medical intervention, or I would have died," he revealed. "I spent months in the hospital recovering and recouping from this traumatic experience." Despite the health scare, the medium went back on tour to continue hosting live shows.

In early 2022, within weeks of the premiere for "Life After Death with Tyler Henry," Tyler Henry released his second book, titled "Here & Hereafter: How Wisdom from the Departed Can Transform Your Life Now." "The basis of the self-help book is also what the other side can teach us about living our best lives. These are individuals who have lived, died and the premise [of the book] is based on what they would do differently," he shared of the much-anticipated follow-up to his debut memoir in an interview with Out in Jersey.

Henry also divulged what it was like to process his 2020 health scare in "Here and Hereafter," writing, "Since we can't undo traumatic events, the only control we have is what we do with it. The more acceptance we can establish over that which we cannot control, the closer to contentedness we'll be." He continued, writing, "By knowing what we can't control, we can put more energy into what we can."

With "Life After Death with Tyler Henry," the famous psychic returned to doing readings for viewers to watch on their television screens. The show, which is produced by Netflix, features more insight into the workings of Henry's readings compared to "The Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry."

"Filming this show has lent me an opportunity to help people who have a deep need for a reading. When I took the leap and had the courage to share my ability, I was doing it for people who I thought would benefit from it the most. To see how my life has evolved now, being back in that place, has been a reminder of why I do what I do," Henry shared in the series premiere of "Life After Death."

Additionally, the series features a plotline in which Henry tries to help his mother locate her biological family in New Orleans, Louisiana. According to the show, Henry's mother, Theresa Koelewyn, was stolen from her family as a child by a woman who would go on to become a convicted murderer. "She could've had a completely different life that was taken from her by this criminal," Henry reveals in the episode (via Bustle). "It sounds stereotypical, but my mom is my best friend. My mom gets me, I get her — we're beyond the point of cordiality."

While Tyler Henry is the star in his titular series "Life After Death with Tyler Henry," Henry's partner, Clint Godwin, is also featured prominently. As Henry told Out in Jersey, the two first connected on social media. "Funny enough he slid into those Instagram DMs," Henry said with a laugh. Godwin's grandfather had recently died, and Henry felt he had a message he needed to pass along. "From the get-go we had a very special bond because he was grieving his grandfather's passing, I was able to lend validation, he moved in very quickly and you know how gay people are — we move fast — but it has been great!" Henry further shared of the relationship. The two have been going strong since 2017.

"My ability and intuition has allowed me to get a sense of who I resonate with and who I don't. And that is immensely valuable in kind of getting an understanding of who's a likely candidate for a long-term relationship or a long-term friendship," Henry said of his relationship when speaking to Entertainment Tonight.