The Truth About Heather Rae Young's Relationship With Tarek El Moussa

When Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack separated in 2016, it wasn't just devastating for their fans. "I was sad for a very long time; I was alone for a very long time," El Moussa told ET. However, when he laid eyes on realtor Heather Rae Young in 2019, everything changed. "I feel like she's really brought me back to life," he said, "which is very, very fun to say." And fans have been obsessed with the two of them together ever since.

In reality, these two stars should probably have never even met on that fateful day in Newport Beach. "I was living in LA at the time, so I never came to Newport Beach," Young explained on the podcast "Not Skinny But Not Fat." "It was very, very rare that I came down that day." These two have since lived a love story that's also very rare in the reality TV world, too. This is the truth about Heather Rae Young's relationship with Tarek El Moussa. 

While their love story may seem magical now, it didn't start off that way. When Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young met for the very first time, he was immediately interested in her and eager to strike up a conversation. Funny enough, she even recognized him right away. He, of course, was flattered, thinking it was because he's a reality TV star, but that actually wasn't the reason she knew him so well. "She goes, 'I know you, because you already asked me out,'" he revealed on the podcast "Not Skinny But Not Fat." 

It turns out, El Moussa had been on Instagram weeks beforehand and had sent a private message to Young before ever meeting her. Yet, when he asked her out on a date over a DM, she quickly declined. "This was, like, right before I filmed the pilot ["Selling Sunset"] actually, and I was living in another country with my ex-boyfriend," Young explained. Luckily, the house flipper got another chance to meet up with her in person soon after their somewhat-awkward encounter online.

Joining a party on a boat called "Bad Decisions" turned out to be one of the best decisions that Heather Rae Young ever made. It was the Fourth of July weekend in 2019 when it all happened.

While she was out enjoying the Pacific, she spotted some of her friends on a boat parked nearby. That's when she was approached by the owner of that boat. "He, like, turned around and he was like, 'Hi, I'm Tarek,'" Young told Cosmopolitan, and the HGTV star immediately asked for her number.

When she returned to her own boat, another man was quick to hit on her, too — which El Moussa was not happy about at the time. His first thought was, "There's another dude talking to my girl," he said on the podcast "Not Skinny But Not Fat," so he did the only thing he could think of. He honked the horn on his boat for as long as he could as a distraction. That small gesture ended up being something special. "Honking your boat horn at me the day we met, that will forever be the moment that you became my game changer," Young wrote on Instagram. Ever since that day, they can only "sea" themselves with each other.

After Tarek El Moussa first introduced himself to Heather Rae Young, he immediately asked her out on a date — to Paris. Her response? "What?! Do I want to go to Paris with you? No, I don't even know you," she reminisced to Page Six. Another idea he had was to simply go out for drinks, to which Young eventually agreed. In hindsight, however, it seems she was hesitant about going out with the HGTV star the whole time. "She almost didn't even come to our first date," El Moussa later revealed on Instagram. Today, he said, "I don't know where I'd be if she didn't."

Obviously, in the end, Young did go out and have a drink with El Moussa, and the two ended up talking for six hours. Even after leaving, they were FaceTiming the whole way home," she told Page Six. Four months later, they finally took that trip together to Paris, too.

Exchanging the "L" word is a serious step in any relationship. In many cases, it solidifies that you even have one. When Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young first expressed their feelings for each other, it was a memorable moment. They were enjoying a date together at a restaurant in Laguna Beach, called The Montage. "It was our fifth day of knowing each other," El Moussa admitted to Us Weekly.

Though Young had been hesitant earlier that week to meet up with El Moussa for the first time, she was obviously into him. The entire conversation began when she turned to him, and "I said, 'Tell me you love me,'" she explained. At that moment, El Moussa did. Looking back, falling for Young was something he had done the very first moment he laid eyes on her. "I loved her," he admitted on the podcast "Not Skinny But Not Fat." "I loved her." Aww!

While they were dating, Heather Rae Young and Tarek El Moussa had to travel back and forth across southern California in order to see each other. Young was still selling real estate in Los Angeles. El Moussa was busy flipping houses nearly an hour away. In order for them to be closer, the two eventually decided they needed to make a change. Young packed her bags and never looked back. "I know it's crazy but we moved in together," El Moussa admitted on Instagram. "After only a week."

El Moussa's home in Costa Mesa, California was one he had moved into after his divorce from Christina Haack. "It was a very defining moment in my life after my divorce," El Moussa told People. Yet, with Young in his life, "Now it's time to move on to the next chapter," he added. Nine months into their relationship, the real estate duo put El Moussa's house up for sale and rented one out in Newport Beach to make their own.

Heather Rae Young and Tarek El Moussa have definitely felt a need for speed throughout the (race) course of their relationship, so why shouldn't their hobbies be any different? It turns out, these two love cars. In fact, "On our first date he asked me what my dream car was," she explained on Instagram. "I said a white [Ferrari]." So, that's exactly what she was gifted by her beau for her 32nd birthday. It was a pricey present, considering the pair had only been together for two months.

Yet, ever since, El Moussa and Young have been spotted spending time at racetracks across the country. "We drifted, raced cars and karts!!" El Moussa wrote on Instagram after one of their trips together. "Heather is an animal!! I'm not kidding this girl is fast!" One of their favorite raceways is in Arizona, where they've been seriously considering purchasing a second property together. We'll be sure to watch out for "Flip or Flop: Desert Edition" in the future! 

After one year of dating Heather Rae Young, Tarek El Moussa decided it was the best time to ask her a very important question. He took his sweetheart on a special trip to Catalina Island in July 2020 to go boating, hoping she wouldn't expect the big surprise that would be happening next — even though every moment of their trip was being documented. "I've done everything humanly possible to play it off like we're filming for our normal TV shows," he said at the time on "Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa."

First up, the two enjoyed a few days of private dinners and a bit of pampering at a local spa. At the end of the week was when El Moussa popped the question. Young was shocked when he debuted a beautiful eight-carat — his lucky number — emerald-cut engagement ring.

Although Heather Rae Young and Tarek El Moussa's engagement occurred on a private beach, fans can catch the whole proposal on his TV show, "Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa." "I just want to let the world know I met someone special that makes me want to be a better man," he told People.

While the engagement ring that Tarek El Moussa gifted his fiancée will always be special to her, there was another ring that Heather Rae Young had always dreamed of having. "I never planned my 'dream wedding,' but I saved rings I loved for the past 10 years," she revealed in an Instagram story (via Daily Mail). Though "gold with emerald cut was always my dream ring," she continued, there was still something missing from hers.

Six months after announcing their engagement, the two decided to give her eight-carat ring an upgrade. Along the gold band, Young had a few more diamonds added in to make it shine even brighter than before. It may not be the same one she was originally gifted by El Moussa, but it's still just as special. "We designed it together," she said.

Once Heather Rae Young became a stepmom to Taylor and Brayden El Moussa, the experience quickly left her falling in love with being a parent. "I have two beautiful stepkids, and they're incredible," the "Selling Sunset" star gushed on "The Jennifer Hudson Show." "And they made me want to have a baby."

In July 2022, she and Tarek El Moussa surprised the world when they announced they were expecting. It turns out, this was unexpected news for the two of them as well. "We went through the IVF process because we didn't think Heather could get pregnant," El Moussa revealed.

After two rounds of IVF treatments, the couple was shocked when they had conceived their son naturally. On January 31, 2023, they finally welcomed Tristan J. El Moussa into the world — and they may be bringing another baby into their family someday soon. "We still have embryos, so we might have another baby," Young shared. "I don't know."

The holidays have always been about family traditions, and Heather Rae Young started up a new one when she met Tarek El Moussa. "Tarek gave me the job of picking out the outfits for our family Christmas shoot. He said, 'I'll wear whatever you bring home,'" Young explained on Instagram, and she had something pretty special in mind for him and his kids. "I decided on matching jammies." Now, every single holiday, the four of them put on matching pajamas for their annual Christmas photo — but the fun doesn't stop there.

A few months beforehand, when Halloween rolls around, Young and El Moussa love to take the kids trick-or-treating. These two reality stars even like to put on costumes with them, too. "Seeing them laughing is priceless," Young told fans on Instagram. "My life has changed so much," she added. "And I feel so fulfilled and happy."

Getting engaged wasn't the only way Heather Rae Young made her love for Tarek El Moussa official. To make it even more permanent, she had his name tattooed on her hip. "Yes, sir, Mr. El Moussa," it reads in cursive writing.

The reality star first debuted her new ink on Instagram in early February 2021 to show off this special Valentine's Day gift for her fiancé. Yet, as excited as she was about it, fans weren't entirely supportive of what her tattoo said, she shared with Us Weekly. After all the feedback, Young ended up removing the post entirely from the Internet.

Regardless, she still has the saying on her hip today, and her soon-to-be husband seems to be a fan of it. "Forever and ever and ever," he had written in the comment section. It's true, too. Their love for each other — and her body ink — is eternal.

When it came to whether or not they wanted to share their wedding with the world, the decision was a difficult one to make. "It took Tarek and I months to decide whether or not we were going to film our wedding," Heather Rae Young admitted to her Instagram followers.

Yet, after already having shared their engagement special with a worldwide audience, they ultimately decided that they wanted to include their big day on screen — and that was when their HGTV wedding special "Tarek and Heather: The Big I Do" was born.

The special gives viewers an inside look at all the intimate moments these two experienced leading up to their big day on October 23, 2021. With 150 of their closest friends and family watching, the El Moussas tied the knot during an outdoor ceremony in Montecito, California. They even included vows to share with Tarek El Moussa's two children, Taylor and Brayden, from his previous marriage to HGTV star Christina Hall. "Being able to share that moment with the kids, and share vows with the kids ... that was probably my favorite part," Young, who now also goes by El Moussa's last name, told People of her big day.

In addition to all of the homes that Heather Rae Young and Tarek El Moussa now own and flip in southern California, the couple decided to add another special place to their list of properties in 2021. After a fun ski trip with their children, they officially purchased a cabin on Big Bear Mountain. "It's so special to me to have a home in the mountains right next to where I grew up," Young shared with her followers on Instagram. "Literally next door to where my parents still live."

While they enjoy staying in their cabin and visiting her family during their special ski trips, the couple also realized that they wanted to create a home that was completely personalized to their weather winter needs — so along with their cabin, the El Moussas also own the lot right next to it where they've designed the Big Bear Mountain retreat of their dreams.

When it comes to body ink, Tarek El Moussa isn't all about it. In 2022, he explained to his Instagram followers that "I got my first tattoo almost 25 years ago and it was so bad [I] promised myself I'd never get another!" However, he broke his promise that same year when he revealed that he and his wife Heather Rae Young had gotten matching tattoos.

In addition to his back tat, El Moussa now has his wedding date in a typewritten script inked on the inside of his left arm. Young also has the exact same one inked on her arm. Yet, while El Moussa may have sworn off any more tattoos, their decision to get matching tattoos still led to two more. "Last minute, before we got there, I decided I also really wanted the kids birthdays and her initials!" He shared. In order to match, Young also now has her husband's initials inked on her wrist.

In March 2023, Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young had another big announcement to share with the world. "Ever since we started dating we would talk for hours on end about creating a home line that combined luxury and affordability and we both had such a strong vision for what that looked like," the couple shared on Instagram – and after almost four years together, they had finally launched one.

As of this writing, their home line, called Home By Them, includes two scented candles and one hand soap for fans to choose from. They're all products that the duo uses in their own home, and they're also ones that they have incorporated in many of their house flips (as fans who watch their television shows closely may notice). "When we walk into our house and smell our candles or see our products, we feel at home," Young said. "And we hope that everyone here who purchased our products feels the same way."

Over the years, Heather Rae Young has learned a thing or two from her husband — and that includes a whole lot of lessons about flipping houses. "I'm used to selling high-end real estate, and this is like a whole other thing," she explained during an appearance on "The Jennifer Hudson Show."

After watching her husband at work, Young decided to join in on the fun. The couple began their career journey together by purchasing 10 houses to renovate and then resell. "This is my first time flipping homes," Young said during an interview with HGTV. "I feel like, in the beginning, I was trying to spend a lot more money — raise ceilings, take down beams that needed to hold the roof up — I learned that there are certain things in flipping that you can't do."

In addition to their flipping aspirations, the El Moussas had another goal they wanted to achieve together, and it included something that they were each already very familiar with. "Some of the things we wanted to do together was film a TV show," Tarek El Moussa shared, and they felt flipping houses would be the perfect subject for the show. In 2023, their series "The Flipping El Moussas" first premiered on HGTV, showcasing the growth of both their house-flipping business as well as their small family.