The Untold Truth Of Hollywood Medium's Tyler Henry
Getty Images If you haven't heard of Tyler Henry yet, just wait. This young man's name is suddenly everywhere. Henry has been sitting down with some of the most beloved faces in entertainment to help them connect with departed loved ones as the Hollywood Medium. On his reality show, Henry brings memories to the surface as he gives famous faces messages from their deceased relatives and friends.
The young reality star has become famous in his own right as a celebrated author as well as a television personality. But even if you're already a devotee of the show, there's a lot you don't know about Tyler Henry. You might be surprised to learn how young he was when he discovered his gift, and shocked to find out that he wasn't always planning on being a professional medium. Learn more about this reality superstar in the making, and find out how he lives day-to-day with a gift that he can't just turn on and off.
The spooky way he discovered his abilities at age 10
Getty Images Tyler Henry is only 23 at the time of publishing, but he's been honing his skills for a long time. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Henry revealed that he was just 10 years old when he discovered his abilities. "I actually woke up one night and knew that my grandmother was going to die," he said during a broadcast of On Air with Ryan. He told his mother about the feeling he was having. "As I was telling my mom this, her phone rang, and when she picked up the phone, it was the news that my grandmother had just died."
He said: "That whole instance changed everything." Henry hasn't exactly been a practicing medium since age 10, but he has been aware of his abilities for over a decade. The spooky incident became a starting point for his Hollywood career as a communicator with the spirit world.
He almost had another career
Getty Images Tyler Henry told Out magazine that he always knew he wanted to help people. But originally, he thought he was going to help the world by working as a nurse. He enrolled in college with the goal of becoming a hospice nurse in mind, but his path ended up taking him in a different direction before he completed his education in this field.
"When I was going to school, 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," he said. "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." Henry is still taking care of people and helping them, just not in the way he pictured as a child.
He graduated high school at 16
Getty Images Tyler Henry started being paid for his medium abilities while he was still attending Sierra Pacific High School, receiving about $40 per reading. At the time, Henry was living with his parents outside of Fresno, California. Though Henry said he was "a little shy" in high school, he did share his talents with others. He often performed readings for other students and even teachers, according to an article about Henry in the Fresno Bee.
But Henry was unhappy with high school, as reported by The Outline. He chose to leave Sierra Pacific and began homeschooling instead. Through an accelerated program, he graduated from high school early. Just three years later, he was well on his way to becoming a TV star and well-known author who routinely hangs out with celebrities from every corner of the entertainment industry. When he signed on to do his TV show, he wasn't even old enough to buy beer.
Did he really predict Alan Thicke's death?
Getty Images It's not just Hollywood gossip. Tyler Henry really did warn Alan Thicke about his heart just months before the former TV dad died from a ruptured aorta. CNN reported on the chilling episode where Henry spoke with the Growing Pains actor face-to-face. Henry gave Thicke a reading about three months before the actor's death. In a later episode of his E! reality series, Henry showed a video of the session to Thicke's widow, Tanya.
"Blood pressure is going to be something that we really have to keep in mind," Henry told Thicke during the reading. "Heart issues, they happen to men, it's not uncommon." He continued: "It's possible that within your family, there might be multiple men who end up at a later age dealing with blood pressure issues, but also deal with either a heart murmur or heart arrhythmia," Henry said. Thicke sort of laughed off Henry's concern, calling him "Dr. Henry" and saying "I'm going to take that to heart."
His boyfriend's dead grandfather set them up
Just about everyone has been "fixed up" with a friend of a friend or someone's relative, or whatever. But in most cases, the people setting up the date are alive. Tyler Henry met his boyfriend, Clint Goodwin, in a very unusual way: Goodwin's dead grandfather brought them together.
Henry talked about meeting Goodwin in an interview with People. About two weeks before the future couple met, Goodwin's grandfather passed away. That's when Henry's medium abilities began to pick him up. Henry says the grandfather "kept coming through repeatedly." Henry "took it as a sign to connect with his grandson." He did, and met Clint. The two have been happily enjoying each other's company ever since, and the cute couple gets a ton of social media attention. It's hard to come up with a fix-up story that can top this one that has a supernatural twist!
Producers use code names so Tyler won't know who he's reading on his show
Getty Images Though skeptics say that many mediums use research and other techniques in order to give their clients accurate readings, those who work behind the scenes at Tyler Henry's reality show insist that he has no idea who he's going to meet when he does a reading. The show's executive producer, Michael Corbett, gave more details to Metro Weekly. "We are very secretive," he said. "We never let Tyler know who he's going to read. It's never written down anywhere... he doesn't know who he's going to read until he opens the door. That's the reality."
Speaking in an interview with TV Insider, Corbett said that "everyone is given a code name" in order to maintain the utmost secrecy. He said he became a "firm believer" in Henry's abilities after he received a reading himself. "Tyler tapped right into two people I knew," he said. When the reading was over, Corbett says he knew he had to create a show featuring Henry.
You'll be surprised to hear who his dream client is
Tyler Henry has done readings for some of Hollywood's heaviest hitters. His client roster includes such names as Ellen DeGeneres, one his favorite readings, and Latoya Jackson, sister of the late Michael Jackson. Stunningly, Michael came through in the reading, according to an interview Henry did with Elite Daily. "He came through just like a brother trying to connect with his sister," Henry said of the pop superstar.
However, there is one name that remains on Henry's celebrity wish-list. When asked who he would like to give a reading to, Henry gave an answer that may surprise some people: infamous ice skater Tonya Harding. "The reason being is, well, I'm a huge fan of Tonya Harding, but in seeing her life, you know, she has gone through some extraordinary stuff," he said. "I just feel like as a person, she has an incredible story. There's a lot of healing that could be had there that I feel she could really benefit from, and I would be honored to be able to help her facilitate that."
Here's why critics say he's a 'grief vampire'
Getty Images Tyler Henry says that "lots of people" are skeptical of his gift and feel that he needs to prove his abilities before they will trust him. "I do inherently understand both sides," he told Out magazine in an interview. That's why he strives to focus on "information that can't be researched or googled," things like "inside jokes or sentimental pieces of information that only families really know."
Despite endorsements from celebrities and a devoted fan following, Henry has been labeled as a fraud and a "grief vampire" by some. Henry was the target of a blistering editorial from the Neurologica Blog, where the unappealing label is used outright. Henry has also been a frequent target for CSI, the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Multiple articles about Henry have been posted there, often with headlines containing the "grief vampire" label. Our very own sister site Nicki Swift has also publicly called out Henry, saying that he is "totally fake." Henry's name has also appeared on the Skeptoid Blog, where he's been accused of feeding off grief.
Dead relatives sometimes put a damper on Henry's romantic relationships
Being a medium can have its advantages, sure. Tyler Henry has been able to rub elbows with some of Hollywood's most elite celebs, but the spirits who speak to him aren't always related to strangers. Sometimes, Henry revealed in an interview with E! News, ghosts can put a real damper on relationships.
Though Henry is happily in a relationship currently, there are times when the spirit world makes things really weird. Sometimes when they're together, Henry begins receiving messages for his boyfriend from the other side. However, boyfriend Clint is very understanding, according to Henry. "We'll be hanging out at 11 o'clock at night and something will come through from his grandfather or I'll get a message for his family and he understands that I kind of have to get it out so we can go about our evening," Henry said. "It's a little awkward, but he understands how I work."
People mistake him for Macaulay Culkin all the time
Getty Images Tyler Henry is starting to become as recognizable as his famous celebrity clients, but plenty of people aren't quite sure which famous person he actually is when they run into him out and about in the world. When speaking to BuzzFeed, Henry revealed the celebrity that he gets confused with the most, and it's definitely one you'll recognize.
"I'm typically used to being mis-recognized as Macaulay Culkin by people who don't know he's 36," Henry said. Look at images of Culkin about 10 years ago, however, and the resemblance is remarkable. Henry is a dead ringer for Culkin's character in "Party Monster." Even today, the similarity in their features and hairdo is pretty easy to see. The Hollywood Medium could easily pass as one of Culkin's many younger brothers.
Henry has also been mistaken for Dylan Minette from the Netflix hit Thirteen Reasons Why, though the resemblance there is much less striking.
He suffered from a ministroke at age 18
Fans of Hollywood Medium have surely noticed by now that Henry's mother is a fixture on the show. She appears frequently, driving Henry to his readings where he meets with celebrity clients. Tyler Henry doesn't drive. This is why his mom transports him to and fro.
When he was only 18, Henry suffered from a brain cyst and a ministroke. He decided not to drive after this event. That's why mom Theresa serves as his chauffeur, though Henry sits up front in the passenger seat next to her. It's an arrangement that suits Henry just fine, according to an interview he did with TV Insider. "Trust me, I don't mind being chauffeured through the crazy L.A. traffic," he said. For now, Theresa will continue to be a mainstay of her son's reality show. After all, he's got to get to his readings somehow!
There are some fan favorites on his celebrity client list
Tyler Henry has given readings to many celebrities, but there's one group that interests Henry's fans more than everyone else. In an interview with Elite Daily, Henry said that he's most often asked about Kardashians and the Jenners. Henry has given readings to multiple family members. "They're lovely," he said of the reality TV stars. "When I talk to them it's like talking to anybody else. They're looking for the same things, they have the same questions."
Henry was attending a party with some of the Kardashians and Jenners when he ended up giving a reading to Bella Thorne, who was also in attendance. Henry previously gave a reading to Khloe Kardashian, where he talked about her relationship with Tristan Thompson. Later, reports that Thompson had been unfaithful began to circulate, according to a story about the reading from E! News. He also gave readings to Kris Jenner and Kylie Jenner, as reported by Life and Style magazine.