Lisa Oz vividly remembers the first time she met her future husband, and it wasn’t love at first sight. In fact, she thought Mehmet Oz was the maître d’.
“I thought, ‘Wow, that waiter is so hot,'” she once joked.
It wasn’t entirely her fault. Their first date—if you could even call it that—was orchestrated by their parents, who were both prominent cardiothoracic surgeons. And instead of a casual dinner where two young people could get to know each other, Mehmet spent the entire meal schmoozing Lisa’s mom.
“He didn’t speak to me the entire dinner. He spoke to my mom,” Lisa recalled. Mehmet later admitted it was all part of his strategy: “If I get Mom to buy into me as a reasonable suitor, I can get Lisa to come on a date with me.”
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That plan may have worked, but the actual first real date? A disaster. Mehmet took Lisa to a steakhouse—only to find out she was a vegetarian.
“I said, ‘This is so nice of you. Thank you so much, I really appreciate it … I’m a vegetarian.’”
And yet, just six months later, they were engaged. But the proposal? That was another mess. In the middle of a heated argument, Lisa stormed off. Mehmet, realizing he couldn’t let her go, picked up the tab from a soda can off the ground and used it as a makeshift engagement ring.
“I chased her down the street, picked up a tab from an aluminum can that was on the ground, and presented it to her,” he said. Fortunately, he made up for it with a real engagement ring later.
That was 1985. Decades later, against all odds, they’re still together.
Lisa Oz: The Hidden Architect of Dr. Oz’s Success
If you think Dr. Mehmet Oz built his empire on his own, you’re missing half the story. Lisa Oz wasn’t just the supportive wife in the background—she was the mastermind behind his rise to television fame.
Back in the early 2000s, when Mehmet was making regular guest appearances on The Oprah Winfrey Show, it was Lisa who saw the bigger picture. She convinced him to start his own show rather than just being a guest expert. That suggestion turned into Second Opinion with Dr. Oz in 2003, paving the way for The Dr. Oz Show, which ran for 13 years.
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“One big [transition] was when I decided I was going to stop acting and not even produce my own stuff anymore, and focus on Mehmet’s entertainment career,” Lisa explained. “When I started creating shows for him rather than for myself, helping him build his health and wellness brand, which changed the trajectory of his career, it was great.”
Her influence didn’t stop there. She co-hosted his show multiple times, wrote best-selling books on relationships and health, and even had her own show, The Lisa Oz Show.
But perhaps her biggest role? Keeping the Oz brand together when controversy threatened to tear it apart.
Weathering Scandals and Reinventing Their Marriage
When Dr. Oz faced backlash from the medical community in 2015—accused by a group of doctors of promoting pseudoscience—Lisa was his rock. While the world questioned his credibility, she was the one making sure he didn’t spiral.
“She’s the best, she rubs my head. She gives me ideas,” Mehmet said. “She calms me down, because you know the perspective around a lot of these things is important. You’ve got to realize that you’re gonna have good times, you’re gonna have bad times, and that’s just life.”
And that same philosophy extends to their marriage. Lisa and Mehmet are big believers in reinventing their relationship every seven years.
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“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,” Mehmet once said. “I’ve been married to four women. It’s 30 years [of marriage] this year, but it’s really four different women. They all have the same social security number.”
The couple has renewed their vows multiple times, and they’re open about the challenges of being married for nearly four decades. “We fight a lot and there are times when we’re bored with each other,” Lisa admitted. But they also agree on one thing: keeping the romance alive is a priority.
Beyond the Oz Brand: Lisa’s Own Success
While she’s often seen as Dr. Oz’s wife, Lisa Oz is a powerhouse in her own right. A six-time New York Times best-selling author, a former actress, a Reiki master, and a radio host, she has spent years carving out her own identity.
Her best-known books—US: Transforming Ourselves and the Relationships That Matter Most and The Oz Family Kitchen—showcase her expertise in wellness and relationships. She also hosted The Lisa Oz Show, where she explored health, spirituality, and personal growth.
And her interests extend beyond television. She has a deep passion for alternative medicine, which she introduced into her husband’s brand, helping him incorporate holistic wellness into his mainstream medical advice.
The Unbreakable Bond
Despite the public scrutiny, media storms, and shifting career paths, Lisa and Mehmet Oz remain a team. They’ve built a multi-million dollar brand together, raised four successful children, and are now doting grandparents.
When asked about the secret to their long-lasting marriage, Mehmet kept it simple:
“The best thing I ever did was marrying Lisa. Best thing I ever did.”
