Behind-The-Scenes Secrets Of Tyler Henry's Hollywood Medium Revealed

As far as modern mediums and psychics are concerned, there are few who have made as big a mark on pop culture as Tyler Henry. The self-described clairvoyant medium is best known for "Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry," a reality show that premiered on E! In 2016 and ran for four seasons before ending in 2019. Over the course of the series, Henry attempted to connect celebrities like the Kardashians, RuPaul, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, Megan Fox, and Lil Jon with their dearly departed loved ones. After his E! show drew to a close, the psychic to the stars didn't leave the limelight. Rather, he partnered with global streamer Netflix for two more reality television series: "Life After Death with Tyler Henry" and "Live From the Other Side with Tyler Henry." 

Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, there's no denying the impact of "Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry." Beyond the emotional breakthroughs and readings lie surprising production processes, deliberate creative choices, and uncanny spiritual experiences. Here, we pull back the curtain to reveal what cameras don't show you on "Hollywood Medium" and uncover the behind-the-scenes secrets of the reality television series that made Tyler Henry a household name.

Raised in Hanford, California, Tyler Henry recognized he was clairvoyant when he was a child. As he recounted during an "On Air With Ryan Seacrest" appearance in 2018, he first picked up on his supernatural abilities when he was 10 years old. "I actually woke up one night and knew that my grandmother was going to die," he shared. "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 and it came from my dad who was calling my mom, so that whole instance changed everything." By the time he was in high school, he was performing readings for teachers and students for a fee.

Henry's big break, so to speak, came about after an esteemed actor learned of his work. As he dished on an episode of "The High Life with Ricki Lake," "[A]s kind of word of mouth spread, Southern California was a big draw because people were a lot more open minded than where I was from. ... Sarah Paulson was my first celebrity client, and she called me when I was a teenager, and I picked up the phone and my hand was shaking, and you know, that kind of seemed to signify the beginning of a very strange life."

Paulson loved Henry's readings so much that she invited him to an industry party in Los Angeles. That's where he'd meet Michael Corbett and Larry Stern, two of the people who would produce his future reality shows. As they recounted to The Cut, after sitting down for readings, they sensed they had a hit E! series on their hands.

Tyler Henry is no stranger to being called fake or getting written off by skeptics. One of the most common assumptions is that he is fed information by his mother or the production crew about the celebrities he visits so he can prepare accurate readings. However, according to "Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry" executive producer Michael Corbett, this is not the case. As he told Metro Weekly, "We never let Tyler know who he's going to read. It's never written down anywhere. Even though people claim he 'googled' the celebrity. It's not possible because he doesn't know who he is going to read until he opens the door. That's the reality."

Henry has also addressed the question of whether or not he would get tipped off before filming a session for "Hollywood Medium." Evidently, the behind-the-scenes crew would do whatever they could to keep the celebs' identities under wraps, going so far as to limit how many people on the production staff were made aware of who he'd be reading. As he told Elite Daily in 2018, "I think people would find it surprising the lengths that production goes through to make sure I never know who I'm reading." He went on to point out that when it was time to meet up with a celebrity, he was more or less kept in the dark until he arrived at their doorstep. "It's funny — it's the reason that my mom or my assistant drives me to the reading and actually follow a lead vehicle, so no one in the cast knows where we're going," he said.

Contrary to what some rumors about Hollywood medium Tyler Henry might lead you to believe, he does not claim to be all-knowing. Rather, Henry is the first to admit his predictions and readings are not always completely accurate. "I still sometimes am wrong," he said to The Cut. "I aim to be about 80 percent on." Even if his readings aren't perfect, he strives to offer his customers positive experiences. "My goal is really just to make sure that with every person I meet, I leave them better than I found them," he said. Though his readings might not always be totally on the money, that hasn't slowed down his business; as of 2024, there were 700,000 people on his waiting list. 

After comedian Nikki Glaser sat down for a reading on his Netflix series "Live From the Other Side," she told The Cut that she appreciates Henry's work regardless of how accurate his readings may be. "I walked away from it being like, listen, I can't say a hundred percent that it's real. All I know is that if it's not, I don't even care," she said. "Do you know why? If it's not real, it's not because Tyler's doing something to trick us. It's giving people hope that there's an afterlife. It's giving people closure with their loved ones."

In Season 2, Episode 12 of "Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry," Tyler Henry had a reading with RuPaul that would stick with the medium for years. Although the episode aired in 2017, Henry still refers to it as one of the most powerful readings he has been a part of — and not only because he is a fan of the legendary drag queen and television host. As he told Out Jersey in 2019, it helped him understand just how powerful his work can be. "The reading demonstrated all of what I want to accomplish in a reading, and to be able to do this with someone so inspirational, was simply amazing," he said.

During the reading, Henry shared that RuPaul's late father, who struggled with gambling addiction, wanted to apologize. "To hear that message from his father helped RuPaul put that chapter to rest and it gave him a deeper appreciation of his father now that he could move past their issue," Henry recalled. In a 2024 interview with Them, Henry reflected on this reading again, noting how impactful it was to share this moment with RuPaul. "He still was a little boy inside who needed to hear from his dad, and that was really special, and I think, transcendent — something we all can kind of relate to in one way or another," he said. 

While Tyler Henry's readings may not be 100% accurate, he does maintain that the dead connect with him often. For those familiar with his methods, he frequently uses a pen and paper to sketch or scribble feelings, images, or actions that "come through" to him. It could be the dead trying to pass on a message to a relative, replicating a behavior from when they were alive, or communicating an emotion they held onto for a long time. It is no wonder that Henry is often heard saying, "Oh, this is interesting" or "Oh, that's weird" when conversing with clients. Sometimes his reactions become physical when things turn morbid, like when a loved one died by suicide or drowning.

Even though some readings may miss the mark to some degree, Henry has said that he's never come up empty. "I've done 164 readings for the show ('Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry') and every single time something has come through," he told  Metro Weekly in 2018. "[S]omething tends to always come through when I start turning into the energy of my surroundings. My job is really just to kind of stick to the message and do my job, and deliver it as eloquently as I can."

Readings from Tyler Henry are often deeply personal and can generate all sorts of reactions from his clients: grief, anger, sadness, or happiness. When it comes to celebs, Henry is extra careful about what he divulges. As he told Elite Daily, "Sometimes information will come through that's so personal and private, that, for an everyday person, I can just say it out loud and it would be fine to verbalize, but when you're dealing with a celebrity, they have an image to maintain. They have to keep things that they want to be public information, or to be private information, so I kind of just have to deliver what I see, hear, and feel."

When a client is skeptical or guarded, it apparently can impact the celebrity medium's process. In a 2024 interview with Fox News Digital, Henry reflected on one of his most controversial moments: the famously tense reading with Boy George, who was not at all on board with the session. "What I found going into these readings was that every client had a different degree of comfortability," he said. "[I]t was very disarming for us both, I think, in hindsight." He went on to note that they've since reconciled, adding, "I feel like sometimes readings need or take time for people to really process the magnitude."

Henry certainly recognizes just how heavy some readings can be and attempts to handle with care. Reality star and entrepreneur Kristin Cavallari appeared on the first episode of Season 3 of "Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry," which aired a little over two years after her brother died unexpectedly. "When her brother came through ... it was so personal and so specific, it gives me the chills," he recalled to Elite Daily.