Dr. Phil’s Wife Robin Says She Thought He Was ‘Grumpy and Rude’ When They First Met

Dr. Phil McGraw and Robin McGraw may never have gotten together if she had been put off by first impressions.

The couple are celebrating 50 years of marriage on Friday, August 14 and, in a joint interview with Us Weekly, Robin revealed their romance got off to anything but a fairy-tale start.

Robin, 72, was supposed to go on a double date with Dr. Phil’s sister and her boyfriend in 1973. But when the man she was due to meet became stranded because of bad weather, the plans quickly fell apart.

Instead, Robin waited at the McGraw family home for her friend’s date to finish, where she was told to keep quiet because her friend had a sick sibling.

“I didn’t even know you had a brother,” Robin remembered saying.

Moments later, she wandered into the kitchen for a drink and found Dr. Phil, now 75, watching television in the family room.

“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, but he said, ‘Would you like to sit down and watch this movie with me?’ I said yes and we’ve been together ever since.”

Dr. Phil disputed his wife’s version of events, insisting he did not speak “quite that harshly,” but Robin laughed, “I actually asked him, ‘Are you always this grumpy and rude?'”

Despite the rocky introduction, Robin said she could already see there was more to him than his gruff exterior.

“He was rough and gruff and not very friendly,” she said. “But I knew he was just a teddy bear.”

The couple went on their first official date the following night. Dr. Phil said he brought up marriage immediately, while Robin recalled it happening on their third date as they walked past a church.

Either way, they wasted little time. They became engaged that Valentine’s Day and married six months later, on August 14, 1976, in the same church they had passed while dating.

Five decades later, they share two sons and four grandchildren.

“Apparently we made the right decision,” Dr. Phil said. “We also certainly intend to rack up some more years as being husband and wife and parents and grandparents.”