Strange Things About Dr. Phil's Relationship With His Wife Robin

Dr. Phil McGraw has surely coached more than a few couples into having happier, healthier marriages over the course of his long career. So, he must have a picture-perfect marriage; right? Well, not necessarily. 

Phil has been married to Robin McGraw since 1976. The couple has two sons together, Jay and Jordan McGraw, four grandchildren, and what seems to be an undeniable bond. Still, their seemingly model marriage certainly hasn't protected them from rumors over the years, and a closer look proves that this relationship has quite a few strange details. 

It's clear that not all the gossip about Phil and Robin's marriage has been true. After all, they have been faced with many divorce rumors, and they still seem to be going strong. In a 2018 Us Weekly interview, Phil even said, "We've never been separated — and the 'D' word [divorce] has never been spoken in this house." Still, from talk of infidelity to never being apart, and even their unusual date night activity, there are some things about their relationship that aren't typical, and there are even a few that raise red flags.

While Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw have had a long and seemingly successful relationship, this marriage wasn't actually Phil's first. Phil married Debbie Higgins McCall in 1970, and they split by 1973. According to McCall, the relationship ended as a result of infidelity. McCall was careful not to speak out about her marriage and split from Phil when he rose to fame, because, in her words, "I couldn't see any good coming from sharing it,” per The Stockton Record. After Phil admitted that he had been divorced, however, McCall shared her perspective, noting, ”I understand that in any relationship there are two sides to the story.” According to her, she left Phil after she ”confronted him about his infidelities." She said, "He didn't deny these girls and told me that it had nothing to do with his feelings toward me, to grow up, that's the way it was in the world.” 

After their split, Phil married Robin just three years later. Cheating rumors have swirled throughout their marriage, including some particularly disturbing ones, like his alleged affair in 1988 with one of his therapy patients, who was just 19 years old. Since Phil dealt with the topic of infidelity often on his show, it surely comes as a surprise to some that he may have had affairs, himself. Hearing that he cheated on his first wife just three years before marrying Robin, however, makes this seem much more suspicious. 

Both Dr. Phil McGraw and Robin McGraw have authored quite a few books. However, rumor had it that there was one book Robin wanted to write that Dr. Phil was not keen on her releasing. In 2009, Robin was reportedly ready to write a tell-all memoir. Through it all, Phil has always seemed to support Robin's aspirations. Interestingly, though, rumors spread that he was anything but supportive of her plans for a memoir. 

A friend of the McGraws told the National Enquirer, "Their marriage has been on shaky ground for some time, and he thinks that if he demands she not write the book, she will dump him for good." The friend added, "Phil believes he's being betrayed. But at the same time, he feels he's almost powerless to stop Robin!"

The source also claimed that Phil was bribing Robin not to write the tell-all. According to them, "Phil can be very convincing, and he's telling her it's what's best for their marriage. He thinks she'll take the loot — 'crazy money' he calls it — and forget all about turning the manuscript into a book." Robin did not write a tell-all memoir after these claims were made; it is unclear whether there was truth to the rumors. 

Most of us can agree that nearly 50 years is a long time to be with someone. However, Dr. Phil and Robin McGraw haven't just been married for that long; they make it a point to rarely spend time apart. According to an interview the couple did with Us Weekly, a few days away from each other is their limit. "When we do have to be apart, we never go for more than two or three days," Phil explained. And, they've gotten used to working with potentially different time zones, too. "If I have to go to New York to tape something and I'm up at 6 a.m. and it's 3 A.M. in L.A., she'll FaceTime me before she goes to sleep," he said. "I'm like, 'What are you doing?' She doesn't like to go to bed when I'm not here."

While never spending more than three days away from your spouse isn't a typical rule for most marriages, it's clear that this works for the McGraws. On an episode of "Dr. Phil," Robin was seated in the audience, and Phil spoke to her about their marriage. He referenced something Robin says to him, asking "What is it you say?" "If you ever leave me, I'm going with you," she chimed in with a laugh, per YouTube. So, it's safe to say that this couple will continue their trend of never spending much time apart. 

Plenty of folks meet "the one" at work, and consequently, there are lots of people who head to their jobs alongside their spouses. This was also the case for Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil McGraw, but that's not because they worked together. "Dr. Phil" ran for a whopping 21 years, and Robin was at every single taping. From the sound of it, she was mostly there for moral support. 

Phil once told Us Weekly, "We go to work together every day because Robin's been at every show. Robin is, in my opinion, a very critical part of the 'Dr. Phil' team and the brand because most of my viewers are women," adding that Robin is "a great balancing force for me." It's unusual for someone to tag along when their spouse heads to work, but for the McGraws, this just makes never spending time apart even easier. 

In an interview with Swaay, Robin opened up about how exactly this unique arrangement came to be. When the series premiered in 2002, Robin was a stay-at-home mom to the couple's two sons. According to her, when the first episode finished, Phil "walked up to me thinking the cameras were off and said 'What did you think of it'? We started talking about it and walked off." According to Robin, the producer told her that at that moment, they "saw the real Phil." She added, "They asked me to come every day after that." 

After nearly five decades of marriage, it's important for Dr. Phil McGraw and Robin McGraw to keep things fun and exciting. Luckily, Robin told Us Weekly, "We spend a lot of time together, but we have our own interests separately." One interest they share, though, is far from a typical married couple hobby, but Phil says that their love of this activity sometimes even keeps them up at night. 

"We play a lot of pinball," he explained. According to him, the couple has their own pinball machine, "and we go out there at night when we should be in bed and play pinball." On SiriusXM's "The Michelle Collins Show," Phil said, "Robin and I play pinball until sometimes two/three o'clock in the morning." He added that they "talk trash" and that Robin "covers up my eyes, so I can't see the flippers." According to Robin, "We always agree to play one or two games, but we're both competitive and end up playing maybe 10 or 15. It's ridiculous, but it's so fun!"