Breaking Down The Complicated Dating History Of Tarek El Moussa

Tarek El Moussa is the best house flipper in the world, depending on who you ask — he would certainly agree with that statement. While he might be the king of profit when it comes to flipping houses, his relationships have had more dynamic, tumultuous turns. 

Tarek was in a high profile relationship with his first wife, Christina Haack, and then later found love with Heather Rae El Moussa, née Young. Along his ascent to fame and success, he's been tossed and turned by love, and much of this has been aired on his various reality shows, such as HGTV's "The Flip or Flop," "The Flipping El Moussas," and "The Flip Off," where Tarek and Heather challenge Haack for the best flip.

"The Flip Off" brought together a whole world of relationship drama, which seems part of Tarek's life. Originally, Tarek and Heather went up against Haack and her then-husband, Josh Hall. However, Haack and Hall split up in the first episode, but along the way she brought in her second ex-husband, Ant Anstead, to be a guest judge. While it makes for great reality TV, the show also displayed the complicated dynamics of the group's dating history, and Haack isn't the only one with the dappled past. Tarek El Moussa's many relationships have played out both on screen and off screen, and there's a lot to know about this talented, complicated man.

The world first got to know Tarek El Moussa when he appeared on his HGTV house flipping show "The Flip or Flop." He starred in it alongside then-wife Christina Haack, and the two became house flipping superstars. But before all of this started, Tarek was actually in another relationship. In fact, when he and Haack first met, Tarek was dating someone else and Haack had recently ended a relationship. The two met in California in 2005 when they were both working as real estate agents at Prudential; Haack was 22 and Tarek was 24. Tarek had a strong sales record, and so Haack was encouraged by the firm to shadow him.

Since Tarek was in a relationship, their dynamic was solely about business. However, 14 months later, Tarek became single again and the two acted quickly. "The day Tarek and I officially started dating, which was October 9, 2006, we moved in together," Haack told Good Housekeeping in August 2017. That fateful decision would change the course of their personal lives, but also have a transformative impact on their careers. The two would go on to build a life together but also a house flipping empire that would make them both rich and successful.

Tarek El Moussa and his then-wife, Christina Haack, would go on to change each other's lives professionally. They started as real estate agents and hustled together to get listings. Haack told Good Housekeeping that they were ambitious, and had a dream board in their office with an image of a wedding ring, as well as luxury items like a Bentley and a jet. "The weird part is, by the time I turned 31, we had all of it," Haack explained of their success. 

Of course, it didn't happen with the snap of a finger. They borrowed a friend's camera to film a house flipping project after they heard about an open casting for a house flipping show. "I just remember driving to an auction and thinking there's just no way this is really going to happen," Haack explained. "Then, all of the sudden, HGTV wanted a pilot [later named Flip or Flop], and the pilot got picked up and it was a series, overnight." 

While there was, obviously, a romantic relationship brewing as all of this was happening, El Moussa and Haack worked well together as business partners, and this was something that Haack openly admitted. "We met at work, and we actually probably get along best at work," she told the outlet. "He handles the business side, whereas I do better with the decorating side — we just have that dynamic together."

The house flippers got married in 2009, four years before their show "Flip or Flop" premiered on HGTV. Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack started a family and had kids soon after, welcoming daughter Taylor in September 2010, and had their son, Brayden, in August 2015. While there was a lot of joy, the two also faced many hardships, and Tarek El Moussa was hit with some especially challenging hurdles. The TV personality was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2013, followed by testicular cancer. The harrowing experience made their fertility journey harder, and Haack suffered a miscarriage before they welcomed their second child.

Haack and El Moussa's incredible success was also their downfall as a couple. They couldn't slow down filming, and Haack had to get back to shooting only four weeks after she gave birth to Brayden. "It was too soon for me," Haack told People. "I was overwhelmed. Tension between me and Tarek was high." 

In the midst of El Moussa's health concerns, raising children, and starring in a successful, demanding reality show, El Moussa and Haack just couldn't manage all of it. "We weren't able to properly communicate anymore," Haack went on. "It got to the point where we weren't even driving to set together."

Stress hit an all-time high between Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack in 2016. The two had a heated argument, and El Moussa left the house carrying a gun; he claimed it was because the mountainous region near their home had mountain lions, but Haack was concerned and called the police. This incident became the final tipping point for their split. But there were several reasons for Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack's divorce. His health concerns, and subsequent treatments, were difficult on him physically, and he was struggling with hormone balance. Plus, the stress of their public lives became too much for them to handle. 

For their two children, Taylor and Brayden, news of Haack and El Moussa's separation was a devastating shock. "Taylor asked if we could get back together," Haack told People. "We had to explain that sometimes couples get divorced but that she and Brayden are our No. 1 priority. We'll always be a family." While the pair were able to center their children, it wasn't an easy divorce. Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack had a long road ahead of them before they were able to reach a friendship. Nonetheless, they eventually did, and with the end of their marriage, both El Moussa and Haack were back on the dating market.

About four months after Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack separated, TMZ reported that he was romantically connected to his children's former nanny. In December 2016, the outlet reported that El Moussa had been dating 23-year-old Alyssa Logan. She had previously been employed by El Moussa to take care of their children, and was also serving as an assistant. In order for there not to be a conflict of interest, Logan stopped working for him right before she and El Moussa began dating. Fans even captured a video of the couple at a Florida Georgia Line concert in October 2016.

However, to be clear, Logan hadn't worked for El Moussa and Haack when they were together. "Yes, he dated a nanny," an inside source told People. "To be clear this was someone he hired to help when he had the kids after the separation. This was not the nanny they've had for years." The insider went on, mentioning how Haack felt about the whole situation. "Christina feels awful that people think it's her nanny," they said. But just as quickly as things started, they fizzled between El Moussa and Logan, and the two parted ways after a couple of months together. 

Things weren't easy for Tarek El Moussa after his marriage to Christina Haack ended. For one, she moved on a lot faster than he did. She married "Wheeler Dealers" co-host Ant Anstead in December 2018, and together they welcomed a son, Hudson, born in September 2019. Throughout all of this, El Moussa continued working with Haack on "Flip or Flop," and had to continually see her as she moved on and welcomed a new child with her second husband.

El Moussa got candid about what this was like. During a sit-down with Fox & Friends in February 2024, El Moussa said, "Let's just be honest, divorce is not easy. But showing up and filming with someone you had just separated from was very, very difficult, and of course, I was still in love with her at the time." The fact that Haack had gone on to start a new family with Anstead made the situation even harder. "It was pretty difficult watching her get remarried and have a baby," El Moussa went on. "I was filming with her through the whole thing. So, there were just some really, really tough years, but I never lost hope." Eventually, she and her second husband went on to separate in 2020, with Ant Anstead admitting he was never the same after his divorce from Christina Haack.

The dating scene completely changed for Tarek El Moussa when he met Heather Rae El Moussa, née Young. Heather, who had been starring on "Selling Sunset," met Tarek while enjoying Fourth of July in 2019. Tarek had a boat, called "Bad Decisions," following his divorce from Christina Haack. They both wound up in Newport Beach, California; Heather was on another boat and jumped aboard Tarek's vessel to say hi to a friend. Since both Heather and Tarek worked in California real estate, they had mutual friends due to careers in similar fields.

But Tarek had actually already tried his shot with Heather months earlier. On the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast in December 2020, Tarek and Heather dished about the period before their relationship officially began. Heather said that Tarek had asked her out via Instagram DMs. "It was like, right before I filmed the [Selling Sunset] pilot, and I was living in another country with my ex-boyfriend," Heather said. Tarek said of the encounter, "She was like, 'You already asked me out.'" But Heather was no longer with that boyfriend, and so Tarek was able to ask her out in person and that finally worked. "He exceeded all the expectations. He's the most incredible man in the whole world," Heather said of Tarek.

In January 2020, Tarek El Moussa posted on Instagram that he and Heather El Moussa had been living together for a while, and that they split their time between two locations. "It's really fun because we live in two different places! Our main spot is in Orange County but one or two nights a week we stay at our place in West Hollywood," Tarek wrote, noting that the two different California locations felt like totally different worlds. Referencing the years he spent alone, Tarek added, "The best part is I now have someone to go to bed with and wake up to every day," throwing in some heart emojis. "The better better part is that person is @heatherraeyoung! I'm one lucky dude!!!" 

Tarek bought his Orange County home in March 2018, following his split from Christina Haack, and prior to his relationship with Heather. "I BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!!!! I'm am so excited for my 'new beginnings' ... sometimes things are meant to be," he wrote on Instagram at the time of his new digs. He said he wanted to have a home for his children. According to The Blast, Tarek paid $2.28 million for the pad, which included a stunning pool and four bedrooms.

On their one-year anniversary, Tarek and Heather El Moussa got engaged. They took a boat trip to Catalina Island, California, and at the Descanso Beach Club, Tarek got down on one knee and asked Heather to marry him. Following the special moment, the two had dinner under a pink, neon sign that read: "The Future Mrs. El Moussa." The decision to propose to Heather came after Tarek saw her relationship with his children, Taylor and Brayden, whom he shares with his ex, Christina Haack. "We were sitting on the boat one day and I looked over and [Heather] had Taylor in one arm and Brayden in the other arm and all three were cuddling," Tarek told People. "That was the moment I knew I had to make her my wife and bring her into the family." 

While Heather obviously said yes, they did upgrade her engagement ring. Tarek originally proposed with an emerald-cut, 8-carat diamond ring. However, this wasn't quite what Heather had envisioned. Whether or not that was awkward for Tarek is another story. After the proposal, he and Heather added smaller diamonds to the entirety of the band to give Heather her dream ring.

Tarek and Heather El Moussa got married on October 23, 2021 near Santa Barbara, California with their friends and family, as well as Tarek's two children, Taylor and Brayden. Heather told People of her happy day, "We're best friends, we're true soulmates, and our love is so rare and so special. It's the love I've always dreamed of my whole life." Tarek added to this sentiment, "I'm just excited to live this life with her. We've got the two babies, we have a family, and we have a very bright future." For her wedding dress, Heather opted for a glamorous gown by designer Galia Lahav. "It's so delicate, beautiful and sexy, but classy and timeless. It goes with the Old Hollywood feel of the wedding," Heather told People. Meanwhile, Tarek's only input on her gown was to "look sexy AF!" She certainly fulfilled that advice. 

The two expanded their family shortly after. On January 31, 2023, they welcomed son Tristan Jay El Moussa. "Having two step kids first made me really want my own child," Heather told E! News. "And especially like falling in love and being in love made me want a baby."

While the couple seem like a match made in heaven, there are some strange things about Tarek and Heather El Moussa's relationship. The two have faced challenges along the way; unsurprisingly perhaps, there was some conflict around Tarek's dynamic with his first wife, Christina Haack. The two are in each others' lives as they co-parent their children, Taylor and Brayden, so Heather had to navigate her role as a new figure in their family life. 

"I haven't talked about this much because I'm a very happy, positive person," Heather admitted vulnerably on "The New Rules with Jill Martin" (via "Today"). "I felt like I was always second, and no one ever made me feel that way, but I think when your significant other had such a long relationship with the previous spouse and a lot of love, and it was very public divorce. You're coming into it, and you fall in love with each other, but you always kind of think of the ex."

It certainly couldn't have been easy to assume the role of stepmom and take on a public relationship in the wake of such a tough divorce. No doubt many people in blended families appreciated Heather's candid response. But things seemed to heat up in May 2022 when Heather and Tarek got into a fight with Haack and her then-husband, Josh Hall, at Brayden's soccer game. But everyone was quick to put it behind them. 

While Tarek El Moussa went on to find happiness in a second marriage with Heather Rae El Moussa, that doesn't mean his past is a sealed door. Tarek has had to maintain a solid relationship with Christina Haack because of their shared children, and the group decided to capitalize on the situation. On January 29, 2025, HGTV premiered "The Flip Off," a house flipping reality show where Tarek and Heather compete against Christina for the highest ROI (return on investment) on their projects. Haack was originally supposed to be teamed up with Josh Hall, her husband at the time, but they separated in the first episode. 

The three of them have made the best of what could be an awkward situation, or one in which rivalries and tensions brew. Instead, they poke fun at it. When fans noted how much Heather and Christina look alike, they laughed. "Now the comments are gonna start again: 'Sister wives,' 'It's weird,'" Haack said playfully during an E! News interview. They continue to pop up in each others' social media feeds, and it looks like everyone's doing their best to be amicable and even friendly for the sake of the kids and their shared histories.