Oprah Winfrey played a pivotal role in introducing Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz to a national audience, using her daytime TV powerhouse to help transform both men into recognizable names with influence that has lasted for decades.
But the media mogul has also faced pushback for elevating two public figures whose politics and viewpoints have not always aligned with the more liberal leanings often associated with Hollywood.
Phil McGraw and Mehmet Oz each went on to headline their own television talk shows after first gaining visibility on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and both have credited Winfrey with changing the course of their careers and reshaping daytime television.
In a new interview with Emmy magazine, Winfrey, 72, defended her choice to give both men a platform, while acknowledging that their public lives have since moved in very different “paths.”
“People criticize me for Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz, because of their politics or their views. Dr. Phil, he was so practical, so down to earth, so real,” she told the publication. Winfrey recalled that McGraw would ride with her each morning as she headed to court while she was “literally sitting on trial for six weeks” during a 1998 lawsuit brought by Texas cattlemen who claimed she had damaged the beef industry’s reputation.
She said his guidance during that period left a lasting impression. “I felt that he was so instrumental in helping me. I thought, ‘Oh, you could help a lot of people. You should come on my show.’”
Oprah Winfrey helped bring Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz to mainstream television audiences, turning both into enduring household names.
Winfrey offered Phil McGraw a major platform after he supported her through her 1990s legal battle involving the beef industry.
Both Phil McGraw and Mehmet Oz received their own talk shows after finding fame on Oprah’s eponymous show and have praised the TV queen for her impact on television
‘Gayle introduced me to Dr. Oz. He explained practical things like colon cancer and bowel movements. I thought he had the language for explaining medical things in a way that was helpful to me.
‘I thought it would be helpful to many other people. And that is how they ended up on the show.
‘Everybody has their own path in life, and it has not one thing to do with me, and I don’t have one thing to do with them. At the time, the reason and intention behind me giving them their breaks was I thought they had valuable information to share that had been meaningful to me.’
A spokesman for Dr Phil told Our News Outlet, ‘Dr. Phil is eternally grateful to Oprah for the opportunity she provided him all those years ago, and for her recent kind words.
‘She’s been a brilliant mentor and a great and valued friend to Dr. Phil and his entire family, always so generous in business and spirit. Over the last almost 30 years, each of them have continued building their own very successful enterprises, some shared, while of course charting their own distinct paths in life— as one would expect. He considers her ‘one of one!”
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Dr Oz but have not yet heard back.
Mehmet is now leading Trump’s Medicare and Medicaid Services while McGraw was embedded as a journalist with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Chicago and Los Angeles last year.
A spokesman for Dr Phil told Our News Outlet, ‘Dr. Phil is eternally grateful to Oprah for the opportunity she provided him all those years ago, and for her recent kind words’
Mehmet is now leading Trump’s Medicare and Medicaid Services
In 2025, Trump asked McGraw to join the administration’s Religious Liberty Commission.
McGraw also spoke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in what he later revealed was as ‘an act of rebellion’ rather than a formal endorsement, after Vice President Kamala Harris ignored his repeated requests for an interview.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, McGraw said the speech wasn’t given to ‘endorse Donald Trump’ and would not reveal who he was voting for. During his speech, McGraw made it clear that he doesn’t ‘like or agree with everything Donald J. Trump does or says.’
‘No human is perfect. We don’t strive for perfection. We strive for excellence. But you don’t have to love everything about someone in order to love them, and the last thing he needs is some celebrity endorsement,’ he stated.
In a 2011 interview with NPR, McGraw called Winfrey ‘the gold standard’ for television and a close friend who he still worked with.
‘Well, you know, I’m in a unique situation because we are very close friends and we continue to work together. And she’s always been my mentor and helper on the Dr. Phil show, and of course that will continue.
‘And then I’m very involved in the Oprah Winfrey Network, doing a number of projects. So I’m one of those lucky few that gets to continue to have her in my life on an ongoing basis. So I feel very fortunate about that.’
McGraw’s friendship with Winfrey began when he was hired on as a jury consultant after she was sued by the beef industry for disparagement in 1997 (she won the trial), according to the Texas Tribune.
Winfrey was so impressed by McGraw that she ended up featuring him on her program and eventually offering him a talk show.
‘Well you know it’s funny,’ he told DailyMailTV in 2019 of Winfrey approaching him for the show. ‘I was going by her office one day and she said “hey dummy, come in here.” She said “it’s time. We need to do it.”
Oprah informed McGraw that her show was getting a ton of mail for him and that ’80 percent of our transcripts that people order are for your shows.’
For McGraw, it was a no-brainer: ‘I said “put me in coach.” I was ready.’
Mehmet works directly with Trump as the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and recently described the president as a ‘vessel’ of vigor as he addressed his frequent medical evaluations.
‘If you look at these records, they’re spectacular,’ Oz started.
Winfrey met Mehmet in 2003 when Oz and his wife Lisa created a medical series called Second Opinion with Dr Oz for the Discovery Channel
Winfrey invited Oz onto her show in 2004, and he went on to appear more than 60 times
‘You know, his cholesterol, his blood pressure – all the numbers are in excellent parameters. His ability – and I work with him frequently, many of you get to see him almost every day – that amount of energy and that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum,’ he continued.
Winfrey met Mehmet in 2003 when Oz and his wife Lisa created a medical series called Second Opinion with Dr Oz for the Discovery Channel.
‘My friend Gayle was so intrigued by him that she encouraged me to be his first guest,’ Winfrey said in 2011, in an introduction to her interview with him for her magazine.
‘Lucky for me, Gayle isn’t just persuasive—she’s perceptive. The day of the taping, I immediately recognized what she’d sensed: a cardiac surgeon who cared as much about transforming people’s lives as he did about fixing their hearts.’
Winfrey invited Oz onto her show in 2004, and he went on to appear more than 60 times.
‘Over the years, he educated us, gave us helpful advice, and saved countless lives—from heart attack victims who, thanks to him, recognized their symptoms in time…to a cancer patient who, mindful of his warnings about medical mistakes, realized that she still had the tumor her surgeon was supposed to have removed,’ she continued.
‘He’s the reason I started wearing lower heels (my bunions are eternally grateful), and he taught me everything I know about the omentum.’
In the magazine interview, she asked him: ‘Do you have any flaws?’
The Dr Oz Show aired from 2009 to 2022.
