Dr Phil grew up dealing with crippling poverty and an alcoholic father. While he worked two paper routes at the age of 12 to help put food on the table, he was also a bit of a badass. At 13 and 14 years old, he would and his friends would often go on late night joyrides. He'd find a more productive outlet for his aggression playing football, and manged to get into university on an athletic scholarship, before switching his focus to psychology. But before finding fame and fortune as the host of the dr phil show, he would go through several unsatisfying careers, a dangerous brush with partial blindness, and a failed marriage.