Dr. Phil Shuts Down Collin Gosselin's Shocking Claim He and TLC Offered Jon and Kate $2Million to Save Their Marriage
Collin Gosselin claimed Dr. Phil made a big bucks offer for his parents to keep their marriage going.
Oct. 28 2026, Published 4:32 p.m. ET
Dr. Phil McGraw is firing back at claims that he dangled a staggering $2 million payday in front of Jon and Kate Gosselin to save their crumbling marriage and keep their TLC cash cow, Jon & Kate Plus 8, rolling, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The former reality TV couple's marriage imploded in 2009 after five seasons of exposing their chaotic family life with eight children to millions of viewers. Their son, Collin Gosselin, made the explosive allegation that the celebrity psychologist tried to keep the troubled pair together with a jaw-dropping seven-figure offer in his new memoir.
Collin Gosselin Made Shocking Allegations About Dr. Phil McGraw
Collin Gosselin made the claim about Dr. Phil in his new memoir.
"While my parents were barely speaking and we kids were walking on eggshells, Dr. Phil was working with TLC to negotiate a deal to keep their marriage together for the cameras," Collin claimed in his new memoir, In the Shadow of Eight: Surviving the Reality of My Childhood.
The 22-year-old wrote that the reason was "not for love or healing, but for the show, for the franchise."
Collin claimed McGraw delivered word of the deal to his parents because he "had a cozy alignment with TLC," where Jon & Kate Plus 8 began airing in 2007, sharing the couple's nonstop dramatic life with their twin daughters and six sextuplets.
Collin Gosselin Said Parents Encouraged to Put Up 'Fake Front'
Collin Gosselin claimed his parents were pressured to stay together.
Collin claimed the massive paycheck offer came because "it was in everyone’s best interests – TLC, the production companies, the daytime talk circuit, the magazines – if my parents kept up a fake front. It was in the best interests of everyone except my family."
He went on to accuse the media personality of "helping orchestrate what was essentially a contract marriage" between his parents.
"Knowing now, as an adult, that Dr. Phil had tried to pressure my parents into staying married for the cameras in order to salvage the show makes it all make sense in a way that feels both illuminating and heartbreaking," Collin shared. "Of course, as children we didn’t have that context."
Dr. Phil McGraw Slams Collin Gosselin's Allegations
Dr. Phil's rep called Collin Gosselin claims 'false.'
A rep for McGraw has slammed Collin's allegations as "false."
"Neither Dr. Phil nor anyone associated with the program, produced by CBS Studios, had any direct or indirect interest, financial or otherwise, in the show Jon and Kate Plus 8, which was independently produced by another network," the spokesperson shared.
The statement continued, "Neither Dr. Phil nor anyone associated with his show ever facilitated, encouraged, participated in, or knew anything about any payments to the Gosselins by the other network, as alleged by their son Collin, who Dr. Phil has never met."
Dr. Phil Did Not 'Have Any Vested Interest in the Gosselins'
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Dr. Phil's rep said he had no relationship with the Gosselins outside of their talk-show appearances.
"He was never asked to make or deliver any such payment, nor did he do so. At no time did Dr. Phil have any vested interest in the Gosselins’ marriage or the status of their marriage, nor did he intercede to keep the couple together outside the few Dr. Phil programs, things which are publicly available and where he offered support in his typical role," the rep explained.
McGraw's daytime show aired in syndication on CBS stations from 2002 through 2023, and his rep noted, "The Gosselins were simply guests on the show, not unlike the other 20,000+ over 21 years."
Jon and Kate's bitter marriage finally ended in 2009, but the reality TV gravy train kept rolling, with the newly single mother taking center stage in the revamped Kate Plus 8.
The show aired through 2017, although Collin vanished from filming in 2016 after Kate sent him away to a psychiatric treatment facility.
He has since accused her of years of physical and mental abuse, especially as he became more vocal about his objections to having his life filmed.
