Strange Things About Dr. Oz's Marriage

Since 2003, Dr. Mehmet Oz, professionally known as Dr. Oz, has been providing helpful advice on a wide range of topics, including medical and personal health. He also chimes in on relationship issues on his own program, The Dr. Oz Show. Many also consider him a love guru of sorts, since his marriage to fellow television and radio personality, Lisa Oz (née Lisa Lemole), has outlasted most celebrity unions. They tied the knot in 1985.

Dr. Oz and The Lisa Oz Show host have been kind enough to share their own tips on how to maintain a blissful relationship. And after sustaining their own decades-long romance while raising four kids, they could surely teach us all a thing or two. But beneath the outward appearance of a healthy and happy marriage, the doc and his wife are in the midst of one of the wackiest, most unconventional relationships we've ever seen.

From a piece of trash that later turned into her makeshift engagement ring to Dr. Oz describing Lisa as "clingy" when they first met, here are all the strange things about their marriage.

Dr. Oz jokes that their relationship was "sort of an arranged marriage" in an interview with Yahoo! Lifestyle. And he wasn't lying, either. His and Lisa Oz's parents were friends, and they were the ones who introduced the future lovebirds to one another when Lisa was in college and Dr. Oz was a medical school student, according to Shape magazine.

Sometimes arranged marriages work out, and Dr. Oz and Lisa are a true testament of that. It didn't hurt that he "always thought Lisa was sexy," he told Shape. That's one way to keep a marriage alive! But, of course, it takes much more than physical attraction for two people to put up with each other for years on end, and Dr. Oz and Lisa obviously connect on multiple levels. 

Still, the whole "arranged marriage" aspect of their relationship and the fact that their parents set them up comes across as a bit strange, if you ask us.

Their very first encounter occurred when their parents, who were already friends, decided to go out to dinner and invite their children along. Initially, Lisa Oz didn't even know who Dr. Oz was. "I thought he was the maître d'," she told Yahoo! Lifestyle. "I was like, 'Wow, that waiter is so hot.'" 

Dr. Oz wouldn't be taking her order, though. She was staring at her future husband and she had no idea! But their parents' attempt at hooking the two of them up didn't quite go as planned. Lisa told the publication, "He didn't speak to me the entire dinner. He spoke to my mom." It sounds strange, sure, but the doc had an ulterior motive. He chimed in to the interviewer, "I also realized, if I get Mom to buy into me as a reasonable suitor, I can get Lisa to come on a date with me." 

Dr. Oz thought he was making a smart move. However, if he had actually taken the time to chat to Lisa for a bit, he would've learned more about her, and maybe he wouldn't have bombed their first date...

Lisa Oz has been a vegetarian since the age of 15, and when she first met Dr. Oz, he somehow had no idea what a vegetarian even was. Because of his lack of knowledge, he made a major blunder on their first date, which Lisa described to Yahoo! Lifestyle as "kind of a disaster." 

He took her out for cheeseteaks, and Lisa replied, "This is so nice of you. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it ... I'm a vegetarian.'" In response, Dr. Oz told the website, "I thought a vegetarian also ate vegetables." Is it strange that a medical student didn't know what a vegetarian is? Anyway, moving on... 

So he was completely clueless about the meat-free object of his affection, but, thankfully, this little mishap didn't ruin his chances at all. In fact, Lisa has since used her healthy lifestyle to encourage the doctor to make some much-needed positive changes. "She inspired me to learn about healthy eating in a way that no textbook could," he told Woman's Day.

So after that strange family dinner where Dr. Oz talked Lisa Oz's mom's ear off, and basically ignored Lisa's entire existence, he rang Lisa up and asked if she wanted to go out on the weekend for an official date. Lisa told Yahoo! Lifestyle that she had to shut him down until he adhered to one of her very strict demands. "And I said, 'Only if you don't have any other dates because I'm only dating you if you're not dating anyone else.'" Okurrr!

Looking back at that conversation, the cardiac surgeon told Yahoo! he thought Lisa had pulled a "clingy" move. Nonetheless, the publication reported he was "clearly intrigued by her straightforward ways." But her so-called clingy (and bold) action paid off in the end, because this pair's romance went from zero to happily ever after in the blink of an eye.

Once they started dating, things were going swimmingly "for about seven months" before they got into a "big fight," Dr. Oz told Yahoo! Lifestyle. It was at that moment he realized that Lisa Oz was someone that he didn't want to live without. He told the publication he knew he had to really step it up and take their relationship to the next level. So he "chased her down the street, picked up a tab from an aluminum can that was on the ground, and presented it to her," the website wrote. We're cringing.

Dr. Oz reportedly told Lisa, "It's not much, but I'll make something out of this. Let me marry you." Not much? How about it was a dirty piece of litter? Yuck. 

Now here's where things get strange. Lisa laid out her ground rules before they started dating, in terms of Dr. Oz dating her and only her. Surely a woman with such high standards would never accept a makeshift engagement ring, right? Wrong!

They got married in 1985, based on this post on the doctor's Instagram feed, and judging by this photo posted to his account, he has since upgraded her ring — thank goodness.

While having some fun on a family vacation, Dr. Oz and Lisa Oz got into a bit of a row, and it was all captured on video. How embarrassing! Lisa told Oprah.com that when she saw the footage of their argument, she was completely "horrified" by the "venomous tone" with which she was spoke to her husband. She then immediately deleted the evidence of their full-blown argument from the tape.

Lisa said that after seeing them berate each other, it actually put things in perspective. And, believe it or not, it actually had a "positive impact" on their marriage. She used that incident as a way for her to teach other couples how to "air [their] "differences productively." While we appreciate the advice, it's quite strange that she needed to see video proof of them arguing in action to realize that wasn't the ideal way to hash out their problems. 

All couples fight, so what's the big deal if she lets her "venomous" side show from time to time any way?

After being in a decades-long marriage, it's no surprise that Dr. Oz and Lisa Oz encountered more than a few hiccups throughout the years. Lisa told Shape magazine that despite what most people see as a perfect relationship, she and Dr. Oz have their fair share of marital woes, as well. "We fight a lot and there are times when we're bored with each other," she said.

Okay, we know all about their arguments, but we're finding it hard to believe she gets tired of him too, especially since she told the magazine she loves being around him so much, to the point of where she becomes "insatiable."  She added, "So my main complaint is that we never have enough time together."

So which one is it? Is she bored of him or is she really a Stage-5 clinger? We may never know the answer.

Things have been busy in the Oz household ever since they welcomed their four children into their lives: Oliver (pictured, left), Daphne, Arabella, and Zoe Oz. And not only is Lisa Oz a vegetarian, she and Dr. Oz have made it a priority to ensure their home life revolves around a healthy and active lifestyle. Lisa Oz convinced Dr. Oz to start working out with her trainer, Joel Harper, and they also put their children through some rigorous physical activities to get them excited about working out and staying in shape.

When their children were little ones, Lisa and Dr. Oz created the "Oz Olympics," according to Shape magazine. "Some were better at throwing balls, some were faster at running," Lisa said. "So Mehmet developed game-like competitions where each child could win a medal. That's how we spent many evenings when they were little."

Hats off to the Ozes for trading in date nights for some good ol' family fun. But if we're being honest with ourselves, we have to say that in comparison to our own usual evening plans — lazily binging food and Netflix — the Oz Olympics kind of brings out the inner hater in us.

Being married for so long means that sometimes a shake-up is needed. Dr. Oz told People that one of the secrets to his and Lisa's joyous union is their ability to renew their partnership on the regular. "Every seven years you have to reinvent the relationship — this is true not just for marriage, it's true for work and other friendships –- but especially in a marriage," he said.

So what does that entail exactly? He didn't go into too much detail, but in 2012, he told Woman's Day, "I've been married to three different women, and Lisa's been married to three different men." In 2015, he revised that calculation when he jokingly told People magazine, "I've been married to four women." Huh?

That was his strange way of saying his wife, Lisa Oz, has evolved throughout their marriage, and vice versa. "People do change during a lifetime, and we should view this as a positive instead of panicking and backing away," he explained to Woman's Day.

Okay, we get it, but what a strange way to talk about the evolution of their marriage!