Dr. Phil's Wife Robin Says He Was 'Not Very Friendly' When They Met — But They Fell In Love Anyway
In August 2026, Phil McGraw, better known as Dr. Phil, and wife Robin McGraw celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. And while the happy couple tied the knot long before he was a household name, five decades is still pretty remarkable for a celebrity marriage. It's even more impressive considering Phil and Robin had to overcome some glaring red flags in their relationship — including the fact that, according to the lady herself, Phil wasn't even especially nice to her when they first met. Nevertheless, she quickly found herself falling head over heels for the future famous TV psychologist.
During an August 2026 interview with Us Weekly, Robin recalled the moment 53 years prior, when she first arrived at the McGraw household. She was actually planning to go on a double date with Phil's sister and her boyfriend but she stayed at the house while the couple went out for dinner, after her own date fell through. As fate would have it, Phil just so happened to be visiting home from out of town. "It was love at first sight for me. I knew right then I was going to marry this man," Robin recalled. "He was rough and gruff and not very friendly, but I knew he was just a teddy bear. He was really sweet."
As she pointed out, he was actually quite rude, demanding to know who she was: "The TV is on and I walk through, and he goes, 'Who are you?' So we didn't really start off on a real friendly note." Phil did at least offer to let her sit down and watch with him. And, as she shared, "I said yes and we've been together ever since." Dr. Phil refuted the idea that he was rude, though his wife stood her ground on the matter.
Phil McGraw married wife Robin shortly after his first marriage ended
Phil and Robin McGraw got married in August of 1976, notably, on the very same day Phil received his master's degree from the University of North Texas. Following the timeline of the couple's relationship, that means the McGraws got together pretty much immediately after the TV host's first marriage ended. This feels worth mentioning, as Dr. Phil's first wife, Debbie Higgins, did not find his blunt, "rough and gruff" personality nearly as endearing or "teddy bear"-like as Robin. Still, Higgins' account of their time together does track with how Robin later described her first encounter with Phil. The TV star married Higgins, his high school sweetheart, in November 1970 —not long after his 20th birthday in September. Years later, during a 2002 interview with The Kansas City Star, Higgins claimed that while Phil was sweet and caring during their teenage romance, he became colder and more clinical after they tied the knot.
His bad attitude, according to Higgins, even persisted after their marriage started to suffer due to Phil's alleged extramarital affairs. "When I confronted him about his infidelities, 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," she claimed (via The Stockton Record). The couple ultimately went their separate ways in 1973. Just three years later, Phil remarried. This time, it would seem, for life. In fact, Robin has repeatedly stated — including during the 2026 Us Weekly interview — that they're in it for the long haul. So, something about his personality clearly works for her.