Phil Donahue Hit With Marriage Strife in Final Years: TV Icon Was 'Desperate to Get Back on TV to Escape Being Henpecked Husband'

Daytime talk show legend Phil Donahue was desperately trying to make a TV comeback – and get away from his wife – shortly before his death this past weekend.

RadarOnline.com can reveal Donahue, who passed away on Sunday aged 88, was said to be so fed up with being bossed around at home by his wife Marlo Thomas he was talking about returning to TV just to get out of the house.

Donahue said before his passing: "Life's too short, and I want to make the most of every minute I have left!"

According to the late TV icon's close friend, Muhammad Ali's death on June 3, 2016 hit Donahue especially hard.

Donahue, upon the boxing legend's passing eight years ago, said: "Ali always told me to always finish strong. He would have wanted me to get out of the house, quit putting up with the BS at home and go and take on the other Phil – Dr. Phil – head to head."

Married to Donahue for 44 years before his death this past weekend, Thomas once told a news outlet she was "learning to listen" to her partner – and the shift had allegedly been yielding good results.

But it was too little too late for the frustrated Donahue, who was said to be so sick of giving up control to his That Girl wife he began taking meetings in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to revive his popular talk show – which ran for nearly 30 years and paved the way for hosts like Oprah Winfrey, Sally Jessy Raphael and Geraldo Rivera.

Meanwhile, sources said Dr. Phil McGraw scoffed at the idea of Donahue trying to take him on at the time – even if Dr. Phil was later canceled in May 2023 after 21 seasons.

An insider said a few years before Donahue's death: "Dr. Phil's a daytime juggernaut at this point. Donahue's a relic from the past. What can he possibly do to take Dr. Phil's success?"

As RadarOnline.com reported, Donahue passed away on Sunday night at his home on the Upper East Side of Manhattan following a long illness.

His family said in a statement: "Donahue died at his home surrounded by his family, including his wife of 44 years, Marlo Thomas, his sister, his children, grandchildren and his beloved golden retriever, Charlie."

Besides hosting his eponymous daytime talk show, Donahue regularly appeared on TODAY from 1979 to 1988. He also briefly returned to TV in 2002 to host Donahue on MSNBC – although the program was later canceled after only a few months.

Thomas, 86, paid tribute to her beloved late husband in a touching Instagram message posted shortly after the news of his death was announced.

She wrote: "I'm sure by now you've heard the very sad news that I lost my sweetheart last night, so I know you understand that I'll be stepping away from this page for a while to take care of myself and the many people who took care of Phil, and held him close to their hearts.

"But I didn't want to disappear without saying thank you for the beautiful messages of love and support that have been coming in all day, and for the wonderful and generous way that you've let Phil and me share our life adventure with you over the years."

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