HOUSTON - After entering and winning a national contest sponsored by "The Dr. Phil Show," Rice sophomore soccer player Ashley Anderson's prize was a whirlwind holiday where she got to spend two days with TV's one and only Dr. Phil.
Ashley Anderson is a fan of the internationally syndicated show, but a couple of weeks after she casually entered a contest where viewers were asked to write why they would like to spend a day with the host, Dr. Philip C. McGraw, perhaps even Anderson didn't realize just how big a fan she was. On December 3, Anderson got a call from the show's producers telling her she had been selected among the thousands of entries to continue in the selection process. The next thing the Rice soccer team's second-leading scorer from this past season knew she was being picked up in a limousine and flown to Dallas.
Anderson and two other contestants were taken to health spa where they thought the selection process was going to continue. She recalls the producers had some more questions and even went so far as to congratulate them on "making it this far," but there was a surprise waiting in the wings.
"Once the interview was finished the other contestants and I were talking, and someone with black dress shoes, surrounded by four cameras with lights, walked up carrying an enormous bundle of balloons," Anderson said. "He threw the balloons to the side, stepped out and said 'hey ladies we lied, you have already been chosen to spend the day with me, Dr. Phil.'
"It was such a shock I didn't hear most of what he said after that," Anderson added. "He shook my hand and said 'you play soccer, right?' I said yes and then he said, 'see, I do my homework.'
She and the group then played tennis with Dr. Phil at the spa, followed by a tour of his Dallas penthouse/condo. As he was showing the city skyline from a wide balcony, Anderson had an embarrassing moment when her cell phone went off in front of the group. When she saw it was head coach Chris Huston calling, Anderson explained that she should answer. Dr. Phil however intervened and volunteered to take the call for her. Huston was taken by surprise.
"I called Ashley's cell, but a man's voice answered," Huston said. "I was caught off guard but after a second I asked, is this Dr. Phil? He said 'yes, it's me,' and then I just heard this roar of laughter from all these people in the background! He described what they had been doing and said Ashley could really hit a tennis ball. He also said that she was very quick, and he asked if that helped her in soccer."
Dr. Phil and the group then attended the Mavericks-Lakers NBA game that evening. At the game they met a number of the people associated with the business side of Dr. Phil, as well as his son, Jay. After being put up in a luxury hotel for the night, the group got a tour of his office building the next day and were then flown on his private jet to Houston. They attended Dr. Phil's seminar at George R. Brown Convention Center with special backstage passes, introduced prior to the show and escorted to front row seats.
After the show Anderson and Co. went back to the airport and hopped on the private jet to Dallas to end the filming of the segment. On the plane the group was ready to celebrate the experience, but the excitement of celebration quickly turned to excitement of a different kind.
"We popped a bottle of champagne and were toasting the day, but before taking off the jet cabin quickly filled with smoke," Anderson explained. "They stopped the plane and we tried to evacuate through the main door, but the staircase got stuck. We had to climb out the small window onto the wing and slide down. What an experience!
"At about 1 am the producers decided that since I lived here in Houston they would just send me home in a taxi. It was a little scary exiting the plane, but on Monday (Dec. 8) Dr. Phil sent us all two dozen roses. It was an incredible, exciting two days."
The air date for this show has not yet been announced. In February Anderson and the contest winners are going to be flown to Los Angeles to shoot two more shows and spend the day with Dr. Phil in Hollywood.
- riceowls.com