Dr. Phil McGraw is known for staging hard-to-watch interventions with famous addicts live on his daytime TV show. But now, several guests -- including Survivor winner Todd Herzog -- have come forward to accuse the host of setting them up for those spectacular falls.
Herzog, the Sole Survivor from 2007's Survivor: China, is the centerpiece of a bombshell investigation by STAT News in collaboration with the Boston Globe. Herzog says McGraw sabotaged him during an appearance on a 2013 episode of Dr. Phil. The reality star, who was on the show to discuss his troubles with alcoholism, was so intoxicated that he couldn't walk on his own. But Herzog says he was sober when he arrived on set, but found a bottle of Smirnoff vodka in his dressing room.
Herzog claims to have consumed the entire bottle of vodka along with a Xanax that a Dr. Phil staffer gave him to "calm his nerves."
Though representatives from the show deny Herzog's version of events, other guests who have appeared on the show for addiction issues and were interviewed as part of the investigation told similar stories, describing producers standing by as they experienced dangerous withdrawal symptoms or abused drugs.
McGraw did not comment for the piece, but a psychologist affiliated with the show, Martin Greenberg, has denied the accusations.
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