What The Cameras Don't Show Us About Christina Haack

Christina Haack made her small screen debut with first husband Tarek El Moussa on "Flip or Flop" in 2013, and she quickly became a fixture of the HGTV network. From there, she launched her own shows, "Christina on the Coast" and "Christina in the Country," which focused on her house renovation projects in California and Tennessee, respectively. 

Her HGTV shows often blend her personal life with her professional world, for better or worse. As "Flip or Flop" fans know, there's been a lot of scandal behind the scenes, including the drama surrounding her divorce from Tarek and her tumultuous second marriage with British TV host Ant Anstead. Evidently, the drama hasn't slowed down: Josh Hall, her third husband, filed for divorce in July 2024... right after they began filming the first season of "The Flip Off." Since the split from Hall, Haack has been enjoying her new chapter. "One month later...I finally have my appetite back [and] I'm exercising again," she said in an August 2024 Instagram Story (via Us Weekly). "My kids are happy and our house feels like home." 

While Haack certainly will open up about her personal life in front of the HGTV cameras, she doesn't always share everything that's going on behind closed doors. As she told People in 2021, "I'm focusing on keeping our [family's] private life more private and just enjoying our time together and just being positive." And hey, the HGTV cameras can only show so much.

Three years after they tied the knot, Josh Hall filed for divorce from Christina Haack in July 2024. He cited the classic reason of "irreconcilable differences," according to the legal documents obtained by People. Hall is requesting spousal support from Haack.

Hall appeared on both "Christina in the Country" and "Christina on the Coast" before working on "The Flip Off" with Haack's first husband, Tarek El Moussa, and his wife, "Selling Sunset" star Heather Rae El Moussa. Alas, Haack has said shooting "The Flip Off" was not exactly a fun couple bonding experience. "Josh was very hard to film with," Haack told Us Weekly. "He didn't get it. He'd always get upset with me." 

Following the split, Hall dropped out of "The Flip Off," but the conflict hasn't slowed down. In October 2024, Haack put her Tennessee home on the market even though Hall was staying there — and Hall wasn't pleased. In January 2025, the Daily Mail reported that Haack had to give Hall $150,000 after the property sold for $4.5 million. That same month, the two got into a heated social media battle. Hall accused Haack of manufacturing drama, to which the HGTV star responded with an Instagram Story of her crying after filming something with Hall. Haack later divulged on "Jeff Lewis Live" that their divorce is headed to the courtroom. "He doesn't want to do mediation," she said. "It's going to be fun, can't wait."

While they might've tried to keep them away from the cameras, the Josh Hall and Christina Haack's relationship red flags were on full display in one preview of "The Flip Off." In the clip, Hall got upset with Haack for not responding to "Team Hall" when they were filming with Tarek and Heather El Moussa. "Remember, you're a Hall now. Don't get confused in this competition about what your last name is," Hall said. When Haack did not respond, Hall declared, "You're rude!"

Apparently, this was only the tip of the iceberg. "If I would laugh at Tarek, I would get the silent treatment for a week," Haack told Us Weekly in January 2025. "Somebody with more confidence would be able to say, 'This is my wife, but yes, she does this for TV. She was filming with Tarek when I met her." Haack also seemed to suggest that Hall didn't bring much to the show. "Josh is not a TV host, he's not a house flipper, he's not a designer. He was just my husband in it," said Haack. 

With "The Flip Off" moving forward without Haack's third husband, the dynamics have reportedly been better. "Not to be mean, but he definitely didn't have the best personality, so it's like a breath of fresh air, and [Haack is] in a really good place," Heather said. Haack also believed that Hall's departure saved the show. "Ultimately, it was better that he left after episode 1 because the show would've sucked," she stated.

Christina Haack shares two children with first husband Tarek El Moussa, and one with her second husband, Ant Anstead. Evidently, the HGTV star's three kids weren't thrilled with her relationship with her third husband, Josh Hall. "Things with Josh have been bad for a long time," she told El Moussa on "The Flip Off." "The kids literally asked me to leave," Haack said, as she started tearing up, revealing that her children had commented on the way Hall treated her. "They told me he's not nice to me," she said. "Why would I stick around?"

Haack has had a tough couple of years since she and El Moussa called it quits. After a second marriage, a custody battle, health scares, and a short-lived third marriage, she landed in another legal battle. "I feel like I'm in a tornado all the time and I just can't get out of it. Everything since like 2016 has been so hard and so horrible," she told El Moussa. "It's really taken a really bad toll on me." 

While some "Christina in the Country" fans might've been surprised by Haack and Hall's split, evidently, it wasn't a sudden decision. "For those that aren't aware ... divorces do not happen overnight," Haack wrote in an Instagram Story (via E! News). "& there is always a breaking point. This one is personal."

In addition to working with Tarek El Moussa on "The Flip Off," Christina Haack has reconnected with her second husband, Ant Anstead. The two were married from 2018 to 2020 and have one son, Hudson. The divorce led to an ugly legal battle when Anstead filed for sole custody, accusing Haack of being absent and exploiting Hudson through social media posts. The drama eventually concluded with the two sharing custody. A year later, the HGTV star looked back at that time in a now-deleted Instagram post (via Entertainment Tonight). She wrote, "Crazy how much life can change in a year. Last Mother's Day, I was in a very bad place. Going through an extremely unnecessary custody battle."

The relationship between Anstead and Haack was strained for a long time after that. "When Josh and I split up, I hadn't really talked to Ant in years," Haack told Us Weekly, noting that she was always on edge whenever they had to cross paths at one of their son's events. However, they were able to reconnect in the wake of her separation from her third husband, Josh Hall. "I was dropping Hudson off at Ant's house, and he gave me a big hug, and was like, 'I'm here for you and I'm so sorry you're going through this,'" she said. "He said, 'I feel like Josh is the source of the problem [and why] I couldn't communicate.' Now we're back on track."

While Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa presented as a power couple for years on their HGTV series "Flip or Flop," the two had major relationship problems behind the scenes. In 2016, it all boiled over. In May of that year, cops showed up at their house in response to a 911 call about a "possibly suicidal male with a gun," per People. A neighbor told authorities that they saw El Moussa hop the fence and head toward a nearby hiking trail. Haack and El Moussa reportedly got in a fight before he left the house with the firearm. Haack then called 911. He would later say that he took the gun with him as an "insurance policy" to protect himself from wild animals in the state park.

Six months later, they announced separation. "Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage," the statement read. "We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution." El Moussa filed for divorce in January 2017, and their divorce became official in January 2018. 

The incident marked the end of El Moussa's marriage to Haack. As he wrote in his book "Flip Your Life," "That was the very last time we were together as a family: with Christina walking down the driveway, crying, and me sitting there in handcuffs, asking myself, What in the world is going on?"

"Flip or Flop" star Christina Haack has talked about using exercise to try to mitigate her stress in her 20s. However, instead of leaving her feeling refreshed, her style of working out had a negative effect. "If I didn't run five miles, I felt like my head was going to explode, then it started making me feel sick," she told Us Weekly in 2023. Anxiety-driven exercise only worsened the problem. "If I overexert myself, I don't feel great," she said. The TV personality eventually found that less intense physical activities provided her the sense of calm she was looking for. "That usually consists of a nice walk with the dogs or a light 20-minute cardio routine or the Peloton," she said.

Over the years, Haack has tried various methods to deal with stress, anxiety, and relationship-related issues. She's even smoked venom from Bufo Alvarius toads, which contains psychedelic 5-MeO-DMT, a DEA Schedule I controlled substance. "I met Josh when I wasn't in a state of fear or fight-or-flight... I had taken time off social, hired a spiritual coach, and smoked a Bufo toad," she told People in 2021. "[The toad venom] basically reset my brain and kicked out years of anxiety in 15 mins." While some believe it can treat anxiety and depression, there have been reports of severe toad venom poisoning cases. Regardless, Haack urged others not to judge her. "I'm 38  — I'll do what I want," she stated.

In 2021, shortly after the toad venom story broke, Tarek El Moussa reportedly went off on Christina Haack on the set of "Flip or Flop." According to TMZ, Tarek compared Haack to his current wife, Heather El Moussa, and called Haack a "washed-up loser." The incident was not featured on the show.

Tarek's anger was said to be related to Haack's admission of using psychedelic substances and concerns over their children. After the dust settled, Tarek reportedly regretted his behavior. "They did get into a disagreement," an unnamed source told People. "Tarek lashed out and he's super remorseful." 

Evidently, this wasn't the only time the former spouses clashed in the workplace. In 2022, "Flip or Flop" concluded after 10 seasons, and ahead of the series finale, Haack got real about her experience working with Tarek after the divorce. "The series made it through ups and downs, and trust me it wasn't always easy," the HGTV star told People. It was her idea to end the show because she no longer believed that it would be fair for either of them to continue flipping houses together. The series finale showed Tarek dismissing Haack's idea after she suggested a waterslide with a cool clay tile for the pool space and walked out on an interview, hinting at the underlying discord between the formerly married real estate pro and designer.

Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack had a rough time flipping houses together on "Flip or Flop" following their divorce, and things stayed tense even after the show ended in March 2022. A few months after the finale aired, Haack and Tarek's second wife, Heather El Moussa, reportedly clashed at a kids' soccer game. The HGTV cameras were not present, but at least one paparazzo was.

Tarek was photographed pulling Heather away from what appeared to be a heated discussion. Later, the soccer coach reportedly had to break up a verbal altercation between Tarek and Josh Hall. Four days after the incident, Haack and Heather issued a joint statement to Insider to address what transpired at the soccer game. "A personal matter was discussed and has since been resolved," it read. The two decided to prioritize Braydon and Taylor's well-being instead of their feuds. "We are focused on co-parenting as a team moving forward," the statement continued.

It is worth noting that this all went down right after the "Selling Sunset" Season 5 reunion premiered. At one point in the ep, Heather didn't play nice when addressing a rumor about Tarek bad-mouthing his ex, Christina Haack. When asked whether Tarek had called her a "hotter, richer version" of his ex-wife, Heather did not exactly shut this down. "Well, I mean..." she began before turning her attention to her costars (via Insider). "Can you girls attest to anything?" Yeesh.

Even after going through three very public and messy divorces, Christina Haack is still open to the idea of getting married for a fourth time — however, she is not in a rush. "I'll always love love," she told Us Weekly in January 2025. "I probably will [get married again] eventually, but, not anytime soon." Alluding to the quick pace of her second and third marriages, the HGTV personality noted that she would prefer to be engaged for a few years before tying the knot this time around.

In December 2024, Haack sparked some dating rumors after she uploaded a photo she took with her friend Michael Lange to her Instagram Stories. While some outlets noted that the two seemed "cozy" together, Haack later set the record straight on social media. "I should be able to post pictures with my MARRIED male friends and male co-workers without it being an omg look who she's dating thing," she wrote (via Entertainment Now).

The following month, third husband Josh Hall made his relationship with model Stephanie Gabrys official; around that time, chatter about Haack's newest relationship began to bubble up — and no, it's not with Lange. As a source dished to the Daily Mail in January 2025, "Christina has been dating Chris Larocca for a few months now. They even have traveled abroad and visited other countries together." Larocca is the CEO of a telecommunications company.

In 2020, Christina Haack was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks healthy tissues in the thyroid gland. In a 2020 interview with People, Haack shared that she had been dealing with the symptoms many years before the diagnosis. "Five years ago, I didn't feel great," she said. "I'd have brain fog or constantly feel like I was in fight or flight mode, but I just thought, 'Well, I'm stressed, so this is how I should feel.'" 

In 2021, she shared in a now-deleted Instagram post (via People) that her anxiety led to chronic pain and poor digestion health. "I've suffered on and off since 2016 with extreme stomach pain," she said. The reality star took medication that aimed to help with stress and pain, but she eventually decided that she wanted to get to the root of the issue instead of "masking" it. "I wanted to fix the problem so I really focused on my nutrition and it seemed to get better but then last year it was triggered again and all of a sudden the stomach pain was back," she wrote. 

Since then, Haack has released "The Wellness Remodel: A Guide to Rebooting How You Eat, Move, and Feed Your Soul," in which she shared details about her diet, yoga routines, relaxation methods, and a variety of practices that helped her get her health back on track. 

On "Christina on the Coast," Christina Haack opened up about having polycystic ovary syndrome, an incurable chronic condition that impacts a woman's ability to conceive. However, what the cameras didn't show is the long and difficult journey that she and Tarek El Moussa underwent to conceive their second child, Brayden, after Tarek received his thyroid cancer diagnosis. "We found out Tarek had cancer, and we asked the doctor if that would affect our chances of having a child," Haack told People in 2015. Because El Moussa's treatment involved radiation, they wouldn't be able to try for a while. "Right away, we did sperm banking and [tried] IVF," she said.

The couple went through two failed IVF attempts and one miscarriage, but Haack tried another round during the Christmas break. After they learned that the round was a success, Haack's high-risk first trimester began. "We did everything we could to make sure this one works," she shared. "I had to do one full week in bed. For 13 weeks after that, I couldn't go for a walk and couldn't lift anything over a gallon of milk." However, even the most careful planning couldn't prevent accidents: El Moussa injured his back while playing golf and ended up stuck in bed for a significant chunk of time. "[His recovery] was two months of sheer torture," Haack said. 

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.