HGTV's Tarek El Moussa Confirms What We Suspected About His Marriage To Christina Hall
The home renovation show "Flip or Flop" was a hit for HGTV, due in part to its charming hosts, Tarek El Moussa and his wife Christina. The series premiered in 2013 and lasted all the way into 2022 — years longer than the couple's marriage. El Moussa and Christina were married in 2009 and separated seven years later.
"Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage," they said in a joint statement to Us Weekly in December 2016. "We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution. There was no violence and no charges were filed." The incident they referred to was a huge fight that ended with El Moussa heading out of the house with a gun, Christina in tears, and the marriage over.
El Moussa had been previously diagnosed and treated for two kinds of cancer, and admitted on "The Jeff Fenster Show" podcast that his body was reeling from all kinds of hormonal shifts during his final years with Christina. "I was dealing with anxiety, panic attacks, depression, I had highs, I had lows, I was manic." He then confessed, "Ultimately, that turmoil led to my divorce. Looking back, I wasn't the best guy. I wasn't the best husband, I definitely wasn't the best father."
He knew his emotions were all over the place
Tarek El Moussa has had a trouble past, but during a moment of complete honesty on "The Jennifer Hudson Show," he revealed his divorce from Christina was on another level. "That was exponentially more difficult than every issue in my entire life put together."
The HGTV star hit rock-bottom, and at one point, lived in a halfway house. He eventually emerged on the other side, hoping to rebuild his relationship with Christina. By that time, though, she was already expecting a child with her second husband, Ant Anstead (she's now with her third husband, Josh Hall). "I hold nothing against Christina," he told People. "I understand why she did what she did. We had a lot of hard years through my sicknesses and my mental health struggles from the testosterone."
After the divorce, El Moussa and Christina continued to film "Flip or Flop," and to raise their two children together. In 2021, El Moussa married Heather Rae Young of "Selling Sunset." He also released an autobiography in February 2024, titled "Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress — in Real Estate, Business and Life." He calls the book an apology to his ex-wife, his children, and his parents. "No excuses, I was going through a lot at the time," he said on "The Jeff Fenster Show." "But my actions were not the best."