The Alvords, Robert, Stephanie and Dustin, are upset at how they were portrayed on the Dr. Phil show Wednesday. alx View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

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Local woman says Dr. Phil 'ambushed' family

The Alvords of Spotsylvania are upset Dr. Phil called their relatives 'moochers' on national television.

By Brian Baer
fredericksburg.com

Date published: 2/26/2004

Stephanie Alvord was hooked on Dr. Phil.

She watched his show every afternoon, taping it when she had to be out.

The Spotsylvania County resident bought his book "Self Matters," and even wrote in to ask for his help.

But after a close encounter with the famous advice guru, she feels used and exploited.

"I used to be a big fan of his, and I thought he cared about people, and he really didn't," Alvord said Thursday, a day after a show aired featuring her family.

"I had a really bad experience. He basically ambushed us."

The show was the result of a letter Alvord wrote asking Dr. Phil what to do with her 21-year-old nephew, Dustin. He has been staying at her home in the Todds Tavern area for the past two years.

Her husband, Robert, and their four children also live there.

On the air, Dr. Phil billed the episode: "Kick 'em out! They're slackers, deadbeats and moochers—adult children who overstay their welcome in their parents' house."

Alvord is most upset that the host called Dustin and other members of her family who have stayed in her house "moochers."

Alvord also said the show didn’t give her nephew what producers had promised and misled viewers with an inaccurate portrait of her family.

And she’s upset the only contact she had with Dr. Phil was on live television; he declined to sign copies of his book while she was there.

Most important, Alvord said, producers told her the talk-show host would present Dustin with gift certificates to buy home furnishings—and an apartment with the first month's rent paid.

"They told us he was going to get all that stuff, and he didn't," she said.

A spokesman for the Dr. Phil show said the family wrote in after seeing a note on drphil.com that specifically included the word "moocher."

Carla Pennington-Stewart, executive producer of the show, released the following statement this morning.

"The Dr. Phil show regrets that Ms. Alvord's view of her experience did not meet her expectations. Although never promised in advance, many guests of the Dr. Phil show receive gifts as a part of their appearance on the show.

“In fact, Rent.com offered a free month's rent to the Alvord family of which they have yet to take advantage," Pennington-Stewart wrote in an e-mail.

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Date published: 2/26/2004