Who Is Doctor Phil's Wife, Robin?

While her husband Dr. Phil McGraw has been the main star throughout their nearly 50-year marriage, Robin McGraw has also grown into a celebrity in her own right. After fans showed interest in her audience appearances on "Dr. Phil," Robin took on an enhanced role on the program. This led to many other opportunities in television, business, podcasting, and even the charity world. Robin is a No. 1 New York Times bestselling author with a passion for women's health and well-being. She has garnered a whole legion of fans thanks to her motivational, family-focused, faith-centered advice and personal stories.

Robin McGraw has been married to Dr. Phil McGraw since 1976, and she has been there to support him throughout the evolution of his psychology and television careers. Together the couple share two children and four grandchildren, which has helped parenting and homemaking become a central part of Robin's brand. In addition to writing books, appearing on TV, and podcasting, Robin is also an involved spokesperson for multiple charitable organizations, has a beauty brand, and does speaking engagements. Together with her husband, Robin also co-created a media company, Merit Street Media — which operates a digital multicast television network and streaming service called Merit TV — and a charitable organization now known as When Georgia Smiled: The Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil Foundation, centered on domestic violence and abuse. Below we take a deeper look at the life and career of Robin McGraw, who is a whole lot more than just "Dr. Phil's wife."

Robin McGraw has spoken glowingly about her mother, Georgia Jameson, but her upbringing in Oklahoma was not all roses. McGraw's dad was an alcoholic, much like her husband's father, and this made things unpredictable. In fact, having an alcoholic father is something that bonded McGraw and her future husband. "We both say that we grew up in a home, in a life of uncertainty," McGraw said to People. "Because when you have an alcoholic parent who goes on binges, you never know what life is going to be like that day. It changed who we were. And I made a decision when I was very young that I would not marry a man who drank alcohol, who was an alcoholic, and that when I got married and grew up, I would not raise my children in a home with an alcoholic."

In addition to her father's issues with alcohol and gambling, McGraw's family was very poor. "We were blue-collar and sometimes no-collar, and it wasn't unusual for us to have cold cereal for dinner," she wrote in her memoir, "Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live With Passion and Purpose." Even then, Jameson ensured her family was well cared for. "Many of my memories of my mother are of her doing for others: cooking for our family of seven, baking our favorite cakes for our birthdays, ironing my father's shirts, leaning over her sewing machine making all of our clothes, and many years later, babysitting and doting on her grandchildren," McGraw wrote in another book she wrote, "What's Age Got to Do With It?" (via "Today").

Fans have really gravitated toward Robin McGraw's enduring love story with her husband, Dr. Phil McGraw. The couple have Phil's younger sister Brenda to thank because the pair would have never met had it not been for her. Robin was 19 when she first met Phil, while over at her high school classmate Brenda's house for a study session. She was surprised to learn that Brenda had a brother, who was at home on a break from college. In what could be a plot pulled from any Disney Channel show, Phil overheard the full conversation as the girls gossiped thanks to an air vent that connected his room to Brenda's. "So I kind of knew I had the inside track," he said in an interview with Success magazine.

Even though her future hubby was not super friendly the night they met — he was not feeling well, the story goes — sparks flew instantaneously. "I knew he was the one, and it was just a chemistry," Robin told People back in 2019. "We just talked for hours and hours, and he told me he was a pilot, he had gotten his pilot license at 16, and had his own small airport, and I told him, 'To be honest with you, I've never, ever flown on an airplane.' I grew up really poor, so our first date was the next night, and he took me up in his airplane." We guess Dr. Phil had some good game back in the day, huh?

After nearly instantly falling for each other, Dr. Phil McGraw and Robin McGraw dated for three years before marrying. They married in August 1976, while Phil was pursuing his doctorate degree in clinical psychology at the University of North Texas. Three years later — the same year that Phil finished his Ph.D. — Robin gave birth to the couple's eldest son, Jay McGraw. Jordan McGraw, their other son, was not born until 1986. Though these days are all of the utmost importance to Robin, she also holds Valentine's Day especially close to her heart. This is because Phil proposed on Valentine's Day 1976, exactly six months before the couple wed.

The McGraws have made a big event out of Valentine's Day ever since, treating it like a second anniversary. Ever the romantic, Phil goes out of his way to make sure Robin feels as special as possible on February 14. "He always does the one thing he knows I really love, and that is getting my favorite dessert for every occasion, wedding cake," Robin once gushed to People. "That is my go-to dessert, and he knows I love it and always makes sure it is here for me. Sometimes it's small, but sometimes it is big! It is always different sizes."

The romantic gestures don't all fall on Phil, though. In 2019, for example, Robin enlisted audience members to hold up cards spelling out "Will you be my Valentine?" during a taping of "Dr. Phil."

Ever the supportive wife, Robin McGraw makes it a priority to attend tapings of her husband's show, "Dr. Phil." And shockingly, despite having multiple business and charitable endeavors of her own, McGraw has reportedly never missed a single taping. This is an amazing feat considering the show was on from 2002 until 2024, over which more than 4,500 episodes aired.

Because of her constant attendance and because viewers responded positively to the brief moments in which she was featured, producers eventually approached Robin to appear on the show in a more formal capacity. Unlike her camera-hungry hubby, however, Robin was reluctant to get in front of the cameras and speak. "When the producers came to me about being on the show, I said, 'I am only here to support my husband. I am not an expert,'" she recalled in a profile piece for Prime Women.

McGraw agreed to an enhanced role when she was promised she could contribute in ways that felt authentic to her — "just who I am as a woman or a wife or a mother," she said to Prime Women. Among other things, Robin has spoken on the show about domestic violence and aging as a woman in today's world. This has led to many other television opportunities, such as appearances on "The View," "Rachael Ray," and "The Doctors" (which Dr. Phil McGraw created and both Phil and Jay McGraw executive produced), as well as hosting gigs.

Say what you will about her road to fame, but Robin McGraw has certainly capitalized well on her husband's notoriety. She has used the success of "Dr. Phil" to launch herself as a lifestyle guru in her own right, and her books have been a central component in positioning her as an influential voice among American women. McGraw's first book was her memoir, entitled "Inside My Heart: Choosing to Live With Passion and Purpose." Released in January 2006, the book became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller in the hardcover advice category (though it was a memoir, it was also positioned as a self-help book).

McGraw followed that up with "From My Heart to Yours: Life Lessons on Faith, Family, & Friendship," released the following year. The book was marketed as "gentle peer-to-peer counsel from the heart of Robin McGraw," and its motivational, family-centered content went over well with fans. Two years after that, McGraw released "What's Age Got to Do With It?: Living Your Healthiest and Happiest Life," a book about staying in shape and living your best life. A companion workbook, "Robin McGraw's Complete Makeover Guide: A Companion to 'What's Age Got to Do With It?'" came out a few months later. It contained diet and exercise journals, shopping lists, and other resources for those who wanted to follow McGraw's tips and tricks. McGraw has also published "Christmas in My Home and Heart" and "Heart of the Home for the Stay-at-Home Mom Workbook."

Though Robin McGraw co-founded the Dr. Phil Foundation with her husband Dr. Phil McGraw, it is quite clear that she is the heart (and at the helm) of the charity. This has been especially true since 2016, when the foundation merged with Robin's other charity, When Georgia Smiled, which she created in 2013. When asked about why she does so much charity work, Robin has expressed a sense of responsibility. "I am a firm believer that to whom much is given, much is expected," she explained on "The Doctors."

Robin is currently chairwoman of the board for When Georgia Smiled: The Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil Foundation, which focuses on helping women, children, and men who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and/or child abuse. "I wanted to do something to help women and men get out of horrific situations," Robin said to Prime Women.

One of the foundation's biggest accomplishments has been the creation of an app called Aspire News, which masquerades as a news app on one's phone but actually allows for select contacts to be easily alerted if and when someone is in danger. When triggered, the app — which has been praised by the National Health Collaborative on Violence and Abuse — will send a prerecorded or pretyped message, potentially saving lives in the process. This is just one of the many important projects on which When Georgia Smiled has worked, and they also offer grants to help fund other programs in line with their mission.

When Georgia Smiled was named after Robin McGraw's beloved mother, Georgia Jameson, who tragically and unexpectedly died at age 58 and never got to see her daughter and son-in-law's immense success. The death was extremely hard for McGraw, who was 31 at the time and was on the phone with her mother when she had her fatal heart attack. "I'm feeling funny," Jameson said to McGraw. "What do you mean by funny?," McGraw responded, according to her interview with Prime Women. "And before I even finished that question, she was gone."

Jameson's death helps explain McGraw's commitment to health and wellness. She committed then and there to not end up in an early grave like her mother. This has meant prioritizing herself when necessary, which is a message McGraw has attempted to spread to other wives and mothers by using her mother as a cautionary tale. "I believe that the No. 1 reason she passed away when she was so young was that she did not take care of herself. She was a precious, loving woman who wanted everyone else to be happy and put her five children and husband before herself every time," McGraw wrote in an op-ed for "Today," also noting that Jameson refused to spend money on herself amid their family's lack of funds. "That meant she did not go to the doctor for regular checkups, mammograms, or the simple blood work that would have revealed her elevated risk of a heart attack, among other things."

We are not sure where Robin McGraw gets the time or energy, but she is also active with charities that are not her own. She works with multiple other organizations that benefit communities, and none more frequently than the Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA). Both Robin and her husband Dr. Phil McGraw are celebrity spokespeople for CASA, and they have spoken about the organization's work many times on "Dr. Phil." "As parents, we know how crucial it is for children to be loved and nurtured, yet hundreds of thousands of kids in the U.S. are victims of abuse and neglect. That's why we support CASA for children and their mission to help these kids find safe, permanent homes," Robin said on a 2015 episode of the show.

"Some of these organizations, like Iraq Star and CASA, have wonderful agendas but not a real platform to get their message out and let people know," Phil said in a joint interview the couple did with Success Magazine in 2009. "So we have tried to do that and, fortunately, have been able to recruit more new volunteers in the last year than they have recruited in many years previously, combined." In 2017, a CASA representative shared numbers that speak to the impact the McGraws have had since their association with the organization began in 2008. The McGraws had at that point directly helped the charity recruit 29,500 new volunteers, who provided the equivalent of $188 million in service hours (and those numbers have only risen).

The Girl Scouts of the United States of America is another organization that is near and dear to Robin McGraw's heart. She was named a celebrity spokesperson for the organization in 2014, and for years has promoted its mission of helping girls become empowered and realize their full potential. It was a natural match for McGraw, who was both a Girl Scout and, later, a troop leader. "I cannot tell you how much this means to me," McGraw said in a press release at the time of her appointment. "I was a Girl Scout growing up my entire life, and was a Brownie troop leader before I even had children. We all must be diligent and passionate in our support for girls, and it begins today."

On multiple occasions, McGraw has credited the Girl Scouts with helping her become the self-assured woman she is today. For instance, in an article she wrote for HuffPost, she wrote, "I look back and know that my time as a Girl Scout gave me the confidence and character to discover new friendships and experiences." She is also a big fan of the Girl Scout's Thin Mint cookies (but really, who isn't?).

In addition to the aforementioned organizations, McGraw has also been active with the American Red Cross and others. For her philanthropic work, she has received many awards, including the Heart of Gold Award from the Starlight Foundation and, alongside her husband, the Big Heart Award from the Westside Children's Center.

Because every celebrity and celebrity-adjacent has their own podcast, it should not come as a huge shock that Robin McGraw ventured into this world. After all, if there is space for every D-list reality star to have their own show, someone with a much more established following (like McGraw) certainly has a place in the market. Unfortunately, the podcast was not enough of a success to last long term. McGraw has not produced an episode since February 2023, when she hosted a bar consultant and spirits educator on the show.

Up until then, McGraw was regularly uploading episodes of the podcast, called "I've Got a Secret! With Robin McGraw." The first episode dropped on September 10, 2019, and weekly episodes were produced until August 2020, when things got more sporadic — most likely due to COVID-19 and the ensuing chaos. "It's about real life, real issues we deal with every day," McGraw explained in a promotional video for the podcast, posted to the "Dr. Phil" YouTube channel in late September 2019. "As women, we have the opportunity to teach each other the secrets we've learned from our mothers, grandmothers, friends, or we have learned all by ourselves."

McGraw eventually got back on a regular release schedule and by the time the show wrapped, had put out nearly 150 episodes. And because the podcast's website is still active, perhaps it will return someday.

Though a lifestyle brand feels like a totally separate thing from her mission to empower women and girls, Robin McGraw has ensured the company she founded has a deeper mission than just helping people look pretty. Robin McGraw Revelation is directly entangled with When Georgia Smiled: The Robin McGraw and Dr. Phil Foundation —100% of the net profits from some of the company's products go to the foundation. It is unclear which products, exactly, but there is not exactly a slew to choose from nowadays. The website has fewer than 20 products to choose from, and most of them are anti-aging skin care products.

Robin McGraw Revelation made its debut in February 2014, and its inaugural line of skin care products was featured exclusively on the Home Shopping Network. McGraw launched a second line, Robin McGraw Revelation's Luxury Skincare Collection, two years later. "Do everything you can to pamper and protect your skin. Cleanse, scrub, serum, feed, nourish, protect, hydrate, infuse ... every chance you get, just focus on nourishing your face, your hands, your entire body," she urged women in an interview with Haute Living. "I promise you, it makes a difference. Retinol, hydration, hyaluronic acid, hydration, brightening, hydration ... you get my point."

While the company at one point produced candles, these are not present on the website. There are a couple of other things aside from skin products, however, including the Lustrous Lip Luminescence lip gloss, which comes in four shades, and a packaged set labeled the "Georgia Kit," which contains a fragrance.