Getty Heather Rae El Moussa and Tarek El Moussa at the MTV Movie Awards in June 2022
Tarek El Moussa is doing whatever his wife wants and needs during her last weeks of pregnancy — including letting her shave his chest hair. The HGTV star and his wife of one year, reality star Heather Rae El Moussa, are expecting their first baby together in early 2023. They’re going through the typical preparations, from a baby shower to readying the nursery, but shaving is still on the to-do list.
Heather Rae El Moussa Says She Will Be Shaving Husband’s Chest
The El Moussas, who married in November 2021, announced Heather’s pregnancy in July 2022 and have been documenting the journey on social media, including the luxury baby shower Heather’s friends threw her on November 13, 2022.
In a People magazine interview on the day of the shower, Tarek — who already shares 12-year-old Taylor and seven-year-old Brayden with ex-wife and “Flip or Flop” co-star Christina Hall — said he’s spending the next few weeks doing whatever his wife needs and “doing what I’m told.”
“Whatever she needs help with, I’m there to help,” he said, revealing that includes letting Heather shave his chest.
“I think it’s important for fathers to have skin-to-skin with the baby as well,” Heather explained. “So I did tell him yesterday, I will be shaving his chest and he will be having skin-to-skin quality time with the baby.”
According to UNICEF, the practice of placing a baby on his or her mother’s bare chest after birth and in the first months of life, has multiple benefits, including regulating the baby’s heart rate and breathing, stimulating digesting, regulating temperature, and stimulating the release of hormones for easier breastfeeding.
But research shows it can also be helpful for babies’ bonding with their dads. In one randomized, controlled trial from 2017, fathers who did skin-to-skin with their babies for at least 15 minutes on the day of their baby’s birth and the following three days had stronger attachments to their babies than dads who held their babies while clothed.
Tarek El Moussa Has Famously Shaved His Body Before
This will not be the first time Tarek has shaved. In 2020, during season 9 of “Flip or Flop,” he shared a clip from season 9 of “Flip or Flop” in which his ex-wife noticed he was suddenly far less hairy than usual. The two divorced in 2018, but continued to film their hit show, with the series finale airing in early 2022.
“Oh my god, something’s different — you shaved off all your body hair,” said Hall in the clip. She was actually married to Ant Anstead at the time but has since married real estate broker Josh Hall.
Tarek laughed and replied, “We’re here to design a bathroom, not critique my beauty!”
But Hall couldn’t get over her suddenly hairless ex-husband’s new look.
“Last time we were designing, your arm hair was rubbing me from here and now you’re like a bald kitten,” she said.
El Moussa then revealed it was a major undertaking.
“I know, it was long! It took like 6 hours,” he shared. “I had a weed wacker going, had to bring a couple gardeners in. They got my back, my chest, my arms. I look good though, you should’ve seen me by the beach yesterday.”
The exes will reunite one last time on HGTV in a surprise final episode of “Flip or Flop,” airing on December 1 at 8 pm Eastern and Pacific. Meanwhile, he and Heather will debut their new show, “The Flipping El Moussas” around the same time their baby boy is due in early 2023.