Christina Haack broke down in tears during a sneak peek at HGTV’s The Flip Off. While opening up to ex-husband Tarek El Moussa about her 2024 breakup with Josh Hall, the former lovebirds shared an empathetic bond.
While promoting their new show, the former spouses turned friends looked back at their high-profile 2016 divorce and cleared the air. The conversation began with Christina confiding in Tarek about her split from Josh, who she claims was so mean to her that even her kids wanted them to break up.
She then told him that everything since 2016 has been “really hard” and the drama has taken a “toll” on her. Referencing their own past relationship, she told Tarek, “I’m really sorry for s*** too,” Christina said to Tarek. “I really am. I just want you to know.”
In a stand-up move, Tarek claimed responsibility too. “I understand that feeling of being a little bit lost,” he replied to Christina. “And I acknowledge that I’m a big part, if not the entire part, of all of this.”
We’ll get the rest of the conversation when The Flip Off premieres Jan. 29, 2025, at 8 pm ET on HGTV. For now, we can enjoy the fact these two reality TV stars can honestly and compassionately discuss their love lives with each other, having rebuilt a platonic relationship after their ship went down in 2016.
We were introduced to Tarek and Christina as a happy-go-lucky, white picket fence pair in 2013 when the network tapped them for Flip or Flop. They separated three years later, with Christina remarrying her now ex-husband Ant Anstead, with whom she shares a son, and then Josh. Tarek eventually got together with his current wife and reality TV alum, Heather Rae El Moussa.
Though there would have understandably been strain following the co-workers’ romance falling apart, they share two children and stayed friendly to co-parent. Things have healed further since then, to such an extent Christina and Heather filmed together for The Flip Off.
Josh was reportedly cut following the break-up with Christina, but the latter told Showbiz Cheatsheet it was “easier” to produce without him anyway. Adding to the sadness there, she told Tarek her kids asked her to leave Josh after a “blow up.” She said Josh put his middle fingers in her face during the argument, and that before that things had been bad with him “for a long time.”
Looking forward to the future, clearer skies are ahead. The Flip Off will capitalize on Tarek, Heather, and Christina’s shared history by having them face off in a six-episode competition series. They’ll compete to see who can buy, renovate, and flip a home for the biggest profit. The network described it as a “renovation battle for the ages.”
Propping up the new series with their dead marriage, Tarek told HGTV.com, “When it comes to distressed real estate, I own the space and Christina doesn’t stand a chance. It all comes down to this: Who’s going to rise higher from the ashes of everything that we burned to the ground?”
“I come from high-end real estate, and now I’ve been flipping houses with Tarek for the last few years,” Tarek’s partner Heather said. “It’s my time to show how hard I’ve worked on my designs, and, more than anything, I want to prove that we can beat Christina.”
Christina added, “Tarek, Heather and I have all been through a lot of stuff together, and we are all highly competitive. Tarek is the self-proclaimed ‘best flipper in the world,’ but, honestly, give me a break. I can’t wait to smoke them at their own game.” If we can count on anything, it’s that The Flip Off will be spicy.