Dr. Oz's Marriage Has Some Painfully Obvious Problems

If Mehmet Cengiz Oz, better known as Dr. Oz, were to give his marriage a checkup, he might discover that the prognosis doesn't look good. The cardiothoracic surgeon started his journey to becoming a household name in 2003 when he hosted "Second Opinion with Dr. Oz" on the Discovery Channel. His wife, Lisa Oz, helped kickstart his career by developing and producing the series. 

It was through "Second Opinion" that Dr. Oz met Oprah Winfrey, who would later have him become a regular guest on her own popular talk show. In 2009, he got a second series, "The Dr. Oz Show," and became famous for his charismatic charm and medical advice. However, public opinion started to turn against the TV host in 2014 when Dr. Oz's reputation took a blow after a Senate hearing on some of the medical claims he made on his show. Through it all, Lisa has been by his side.

The rather strange Dr. Oz and his wife married in 1985 and have four children together, and a marriage as long as theirs is a rarity in entertainment. Between his TV show, Lisa's radio show, print interviews, and their many appearances on other shows and podcasts, the two have shared some of the secrets of their romantic success. And while it may seem like Dr. Oz and Lisa have a perfect marriage, there are some very big red flags that are impossible to ignore. 

Dr. Oz met his future wife, Lisa Lemole, while attending the University of Pennsylvania. It was their fathers who introduced them through a planned dinner that Dr. Oz jokingly described to Yahoo! Life as "sort of an arranged marriage." Lisa further elaborated, claiming that, when Dr. Oz showed up, she initially thought he was a member of the restaurant's staff. During the meal, the future TV host seemingly ignored Lisa and appeared to be more interested in someone else, spending the whole night talking to Lisa's mom.

Despite Dr. Oz spending the evening conversing with her mom, Lisa agreed to go out with him, but some rules had to be set first. She recalled telling him, "I'm only dating you if you're not dating anyone else." And while Dr. Oz felt she was being "clingy," he agreed to it. Something Lisa probably should have mentioned was that she was a vegetarian. For their first real date — one without parental supervision — Dr. Oz took Lisa to a steakhouse. She then tried to inform him about her dietary preferences, but he didn't actually know what Lisa being a vegetarian meant, explaining, "I thought a vegetarian also ate vegetables." Some people may be concerned that someone in medical school didn't know what a vegetarian was, but Lisa was apparently okay with that.

Like any couple, Dr. Oz and Lisa Oz have had their share of arguments, but Lisa apparently likes to record them and review the tapes later. As she explained in an article for Oprah.com, it started when she watched a video of a family vacation that caught her and her husband having it out in the background. "I was so horrified by my venomous tone, I quickly erased the tape," she recalled. But in time, it gave her the idea to tape all her fights with her husband so that she can look back on them. 

While it's always a good idea to reflect on your past and consider what you could have done differently, sitting down to watch videos of the fights you had with your spouse may be seen as an extreme response. But, according to Lisa, doing this has helped their marriage because, as she put it, keeping a record of their arguments gives her the chance to ask, "Did you fight fair, or did you come off like the Wicked Witch of the West?" 

In the same article, Lisa discussed the need for spouses to take responsibility when something isn't working in the marriage. She revealed that she felt that Dr. Oz didn't spend enough time with her, but wrote, "After decades of blaming him for my boredom, I decided to make my own fun." While she explained that, instead of sitting at home waiting for her husband, she took it upon herself to find ways to enjoy her time, including taking kung fu lessons, it seems that Lisa's initial clingy attitude continued past their first date and well into their marriage.

Every celebrity works to show off their best side when the cameras are on them, but sometimes they get caught revealing their true selves when they don't know they are being watched. That's what happened to Dr. Oz and Lisa Oz when they thought they were alone, but were actually still on the phone with a reporter. Before she was Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s alleged mistress, Olivia Nuzzi was assigned to write a profile on Dr. Oz for New York Magazine in 2021. After no one picked up the home phone of the Ozes, and a call to Dr. Oz's personal line also went unanswered, Nuzzi called Lisa, who was surprised the reporter had her number and quickly hung up. That's when Nuzzi was able to hear a conversation that wasn't meant for her ears.

Lisa, it seemed, had failed to properly hang up her phone. Instead, she had connected it to the Bluetooth, and began to tell her husband who it was that had called. This, in turn, led to an argument Lisa surely didn't want the world to know about. Nuzzi listened in as Dr. Oz called her a liar, Lisa called her "this f***ing girl reporter," and the two argued over Michelle Bouchard, a friend of the Ozes. In the back and forth, as Nuzzi reported it, Lisa tried to defend Bouchard while Dr. Oz got angrier and seemingly yelled at her. The language and temperament aren't the kind of things the couple is known for, and the article, which came out just weeks after Dr. Oz announced his Senate candidacy, started his campaign off on the wrong foot.