Top 20 Most Shocking Dr. Phil Guests

Let’s begin with a nice crossover between “Dr. Phil” and “Kitchen Nightmares”. Amy and Samy first appeared on the latter series and were met with fierce backlash regarding the way they handled criticism. It was also the first time that Gordon walked away from a restaurant, realizing that there was nothing he could do to change the attitude of its owners. Amy and Samy later appeared on “Dr. Phil” to defend themselves, but it mostly boiled down to Samy yelling at people and the couple insinuating that every restaurant owner in Israel acts in a belligerent fashion. We think they were trying to clear their names... but they only made the situation worse.

The age difference between 61-year-old Thom and 19-year-old Reba is substantial. Oh, and the man is a pastor - who’s already married! To make the story even more surreal, Thom’s wife Belinda claims that she and Thom had wanted a polygamous marriage for a long time and that she was elated when Reba was married into the family. She also states that she doesn’t intrude on their relationship and that Thom alternates his nights with Reba and Belinda. Phil says that their sexual relationship “creeps a lot of people out,” and considering Thom has known Reba since she was a child, such feeling aren’t exactly unfounded.

April and Nathan are parents of 4-year-old twins confronting a woman named Ashley who stole photos of their daughters off Facebook and passed them off as her own children online. Taking the deception even further, Ashley has concocted an elaborate story regarding her “children,” has framed photos of the girls in her house, and has a fabricated story to go along with every single stolen picture. Ashley, of course, denies everything, despite very clear evidence to the contrary. We don’t know if this is despicable or just tragic. Maybe it’s a combination of both. It would seem that mental health is an issue, but that doesn’t make the situation any less creepy.

In this episode, a woman named Jordan, who weighs 75 pounds, speaks to Dr. Phil about wanting to lose even more weight, with her ultimate goal being around 70 pounds. Jordan admits that she loves the attention she receives from her clearly distraught parents and the shocked expressions her appearance elicits when she passes people on the street. It’s another instance of not knowing whether we should be shocked or sad, because this is just a tragic tale from every angle. Seeing the skeletal Jordan is enough to make anyone feel sorry for both her and her parents.

Most pregnancies last 40 weeks. Zona’s alleged pregnancy has been going on for over 170. Or so she says. 40-year-old Zona appeared on “Dr. Phil” claiming to have been pregnant for three years and seven months, despite having her tubes tied at twenty. And, like any expectant mother, Zona has visited doctors, all of whom could not find a baby. Zona chalks this up to their ultrasounds having too many megahertz. And, despite Zona feeling movement and heartbeats, the OB-GYN “Dr. Phil” hired to study her said that Zona’s anatomy is normal and that there was nothing in her uterus. We don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s certainly not a baby.

If you thought this list couldn’t get any more tragic, think again. A woman named Pat believes that her husband Mira is poisoning her to keep her sedated so he can openly molest their daughters. As proof, she shows “needle marks,” which are nothing more than regular skin bumps. She’s so paranoid that she sleeps on the floor of her daughters’ bedrooms, barricades the doors, and wears a softball helmet to protect herself. Mira claims that she has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and has been committed in the past. It’s a horrible story of a family being torn apart by mental illness, and it makes for devastating television.

Robert gave us quite the sight. He sat on Phil’s couch, head leaned back, and was barely able to string together a sentence due to his enormous size. Because Robert hadn’t weighed himself in five years, Phil brought in an industrial scale and discovered that he weighed an unbelievable 756 pounds. Robert’s daily life was as difficult as you would expect. He desperately wanted to be active and was tired of feeling lonely and trapped. Robert was sent to Wellspring Academy and lost 260 pounds, although he had unfortunately gained it back by 2015. You can follow Robert’s renewed progress and life through his YouTube channel ragingrobert, which is still active as of December 2018.

This segment bears a scary resemblance to the B.A.N. episode of “Atlanta,” and it’s so bizarre and surreal that it could easily be taken for satire. The guest is Treasure, and she believes that she is white. She spouts tons of disgusting racist language toward black people and has the KKK’s number on speed dial, which to be honest, we didn’t even know was a thing. When taken onto the street, Treasure acts like a stereotypical white girl while also showing disgust towards the “gaggle” of African Americans (her word, not ours!). We’re not sure if Treasure is mentally troubled or just a massive troll. It’s just too bizarre and shocking to be believed.

Some Dr. Phil guests really make you wonder if they’re just doing this for attention. This young woman appeared on the show claiming first that she was Eminem’s daughter, despite family members stating they all knew her real father. She later claimed she was 9 months pregnant and would be giving birth to ‘Baby Jesus’, despite taking multiple pregnancy tests that all came back negative. The tension between this guest and her family was palpable, as the sister and mother both constantly deny Haley’s claims, and dismiss her stories as cries for attention.

It’s not often that Dr. Phil interviews somebody this troubled. For this special episode, Phil interviewed Rachel Hutson, a teenager who murdered her sick mother. Rachel explains that her mother was not well, having suffered multiple heart attacks and kidney failure, and that she wanted to commit a murder-suicide to relieve her family of their supposed burden. After killing her mother, she sent a photo of her body to her disbelieving father, who repeatedly asked to speak to his wife. It’s a heavier story than “Dr. Phil’s” typical brand, and it leaves a dreadful, lasting impression.

You have to be pretty darned memorable on this program to become a meme. Danielle Bregoli, now known as the rapper Bhad Bhabie, both stunned and entertained the world when she appeared on “Dr. Phil”; and her signature catchphrase, “cash me outside, how ‘bout dah?” instantly became a cultural sensation. But while that was funny and all, the then-13-year-old Bregoli was still a very scary and shocking guest. She openly admitted to stealing credit cards and vehicles, laughed while describing instances of physical violence towards her mother, and threatened to fight both her mother and the audience. So young, and so disturbing..

A woman by the name of Karla appeared on “Dr. Phil” claiming to be Tyler Perry’s wife, only, you know… she isn’t. According to her, "Perry" messaged her on Facebook and they instantly became friends. Once “Tyler” “proposed” (over the Internet), he asked for money for his various “charities,” and Karla sent him $100,000, leaving her flat broke. Her daughters rightfully assumed that it was all a scam, but Karla wasn’t having any of it. She also believed herself to be the mother of Perry’s real son (somehow...) It’s a sad and upsetting story combining the worst aspects of celebrity worship and gullibility.

A lot of things can tear a family apart, including racism. Guest Peyton’s dad is a member of the KKK, who served nine years in prison for manufacturing bombs to blow up an abortion clinic. He also refuses to acknowledge his grandson, Peyton’s child, because he is half-black. According to Peyton, her father has called her child “critter,” “monster,” and “ape.” In his words, his grandson is not human, because he’s not 100% white; and because he isn’t human, he couldn’t possibly be his grandson. It’s a sickening, heartbreaking story, and one of “Dr. Phil’s” most challenging to watch.

Nine-year-old Makenze is a hard child to manage, as seen in home videos of her toppling furniture, screaming, and attempting to bite her mother. Her mother also claims that she has punched her brother in the face, thrown scissors at a teacher, and attempted to topple her cousin’s crib. She also relays a horrific story of the time Makenze stood in traffic, hoping to die. She’s definitely a disturbed child, and her ongoing treatment, including heavy doses of pharmaceuticals, isn’t any comfort or help. Worse still, her father allegedly beats her with a belt. What a tragic and shocking story.

Now here’s a story for the ages. A 29-year-old teacher by the name of Tanya Ramirez gave her phone number to a 17-year-old student. This student then appeared at her doorstep one night and they had sex; and the student filmed the encounter with his phone. He then distributed the video to his friends, and it soon spread throughout the school, leading to Ramirez’s termination and a second-degree felony charge. She, in turn, sued the student and his mother for defamation. To make matters worse, the student’s mother called the sex tape “not that good,” implying that she, you know, watched her son’s sex tape. You can’t make stuff like this up.

It doesn’t get much worse than lying about cancer to get attention. A woman by the name of Patricia claimed to have had stage three cancer; and according to Patricia’s daughter, she told her story on a local news channel to receive attention and collect possible donations. Patricia then told Phil that she had had brain cancer, had numerous tumors removed, and that her entire face was detached for the procedure. And while she did, in fact, have some form of brain surgery, her medical records disprove almost everything else she said. According to Patricia’s daughter, she “made the story up after her husband died.” It’s exploitation but hey, that’s “Dr. Phil.”

Here’s another awful story, featuring 12-year-old Aneska. According to her parents, Aneska is out of control, to put it mildly. How so? Well, she chases her siblings with knives, chokes her sister, and sets fire to comforters. They also say that she once killed the family hamster with a flashlight and squeezed a baby bird to death after finding a nest outside. According to Aneska, the voices in her head told her to do it. This is, by any standard, a terribly sad and disturbing case, and Aneska is easily one of Dr. Phil’s most troubled guests.

In 1996, child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was murdered in her house. The case remains unsolved; and after twenty years, her brother Burke broke his silence and granted an exclusive interview to Dr. Phil. Some people took issue with it. Many viewers noted Burke’s awkward and fidgety demeanor, and found him unsettlingly unreliable. This forced Dr. Phil to defend Burke on his show, claiming that Burke was just nervous. Burke is a shocking guest not only because of his emergence after twenty years with a horrific account of the night his sister was killed, but because his appearance caused so much controversy and discussion in the media.

In this episode, we watch as a heroin addict is chastised by her family. However, Niki is no ordinary junkie; she is an eight-month-pregnant opiate addict. According to the narrative related on the show, though Niki was very close to having a baby she lived in a van and dabbled in prostitution so she could buy herself and her boyfriend heroin. She also admitted to overdosing when she was seven months pregnant; and that she puts heroin before her baby. Sometimes “Dr. Phil” cases can shock you. Sometimes they scare you. And, in the case of Niki, they make you feel wicked shame and anger at the subjects involved.

Before we get to the most shocking Dr.Phil guest, here are a few honorable, or dishonorable, mentions:

PTA Mom

The Woman with the Vodka-Filled Water Bottle

The Girl with the 4-Digit Allowance

Dick Masterson

Bailey

It’s not often that a convicted murderer gives an interview to Dr. Phil, but here you go. In 2012, teenager Zachary Davis killed his own mother with a sledgehammer. Dr. Phil interviewed him two months before his trial, one which eventually led to a life sentence for Davis. And this was easily the creepiest and most shocking interview in “Dr. Phil” history. Davis detailed why and how he murdered his mother, and throughout the interview, he simply stares at the Dr. with emotionless eyes and speaks in an unnerving, Jigsaw-esque monotone voice. The interview is full of tension and horrific content, and we can barely stand to watch it.