All for Higher Ratings? –
Dec. 29, 2017 – STAT and The Boston Globe published an exposé on Thursday, which includes accounts from multiple guests who say their substance addictions were enabled by members of the TV psychiatrist’s staff in hopes of boosting ratings. Todd Herzog—who struggled with alcohol abuse in the years after winning Survivor—said that when he arrived on the Dr. Phil studio in 2013, he found a bottle of vodka in his dressing room and was given a Xanax to “calm his nerves.” Herzog had to be carried on set before his sit-down with Dr. Phil (whose real name is Phil McGraw), and registered a .263 blood alcohol content—more than three times the legal limit.