DR. PHIL‘S been mugged by his first wife! Debbie Higgins McCall has been hawking a coffee mug featuring their wedding picture on the front . . . and one of Dr. Phil’s sayings on the back, “What the HELL were you thinking?”
That smart remark, she says, kind of sums up her feelings about their brief but troubled union.
The former high school cheerleader married Phil McGraw on Nov. 27, 1970, at Southridge Presbyterian Church in Roeland Park, Kan. They were both 20.
NO HAPPY ENDING
However, the fairy-tale romance soon turned into a nightmare, says Debbie.
She chafed under Phil’s domineering ways, and the marriage finally crumbled when she says she found out that he had cheated on her with a number of different women.
“When I confronted him with his infidelities he didn’t deny these girls and told me that it had nothing to do with his feelings toward me, to grow up, that’s the way it was in the world,” says Debbie, 53.
Needless to say, the 53-year-old TV shrink prefers to gloss over the fact that he cheated on Debbie and that was the real reason their marriage ended.
SUGARCOATING
Instead he just says, “We never had a cross word. We just sat down and said, ‘Why did we do this?’ “
Their marriage ended in 1974. Debbie remarried and raised four children but her second marriage didn’t work out, either. She is currently living with her boyfriend in Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Life hasn’t been easy for the first Mrs. Phil — she runs a store near her home and has had to cope as her boyfriend undergoes chemotherapy for colon cancer.
However, the Web site, www.the1st mrsphil.com, is doing so well that she’s run out of the first batch of cups.
GETTING EVEN
Debbie told The ENQUIRER, “I have no more coffee mugs to sell (sold 48!). That section of my Web site is on hold for the time being.”
A close pal told The ENQUIRER: “This is Debbie’s way of getting even with Dr. Phil and the fact that he lied about their relationship.
“It’s her way of speaking out. As they say, revenge is sweet. And Debbie is having the last laugh. He deserves the mugging for what he did to her.” — MICHAEL GLYNN
