Heavy/Getty Tarek El Moussa, HGTV star and author of "Flip Your Life"
Longtime HGTV star Tarek El Moussa has made headlines in recent days with the revelatory and sometimes shocking life stories he’s shared in his new book — “Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress — in Real Estate, Business and Life” — released on February 6, 2024.
On the eve of his book launch, Tarek, 45, told Heavy his goal is for readers to “find hope for a better life” as he shares his struggles with depression, substance abuse, brushes with the law, and mental health challenges caused by testosterone that was prescribed to him after he beat two types of cancer.
He said, “It’s my story of how I got to where I got,” which now includes running multiple business ventures, selling over 1,000 real estate properties, and entering his second decade of working with HGTV, starring in “The Flipping El Moussas” with former “Selling Sunset” star Heather Rae Young, whom he married in 2021. The couple welcomed their first child together, Tristan Jay, in January 2023.
Tarek told Heavy that in addition to his genuine excitement over sharing the second season of their show with fans, he’s also pumped about multiple new shows they’re working on with their production company — and he didn’t shut down the possibility of teaming up with Christina for a new show.
Here’s what you need to know:
Tarek & Heather El Moussa Spearheading Shows Beyond ‘The Flipping El Moussas’
HGTVHeather and Tarek El Moussa
Tarek first rose to fame with his ex-wife, Christina Hall, on HGTV’s hugely popular series “Flip or Flop,” which debuted in 2013 when their daughter Taylor was a preschooler and before their son Brayden had been born.
After lots of ups and downs working as real estate brokers in their 20s, the couple flipped their first home and it gave Tarek an idea for a TV show. Driven to succeed, he wrote in his new book that he figured out how to develop a pitch for a show idea he called “Flip or Flop” and that he got it in front of several networks — including HGTV, which picked it up.
Though his marriage to Christina didn’t last, his love of broadcasting did. Over a decade later and with multiple HGTV shows under his belt, Tarek has more ideas for shows and has set his sights on developing new TV series through a company he and Heather run with entertainment lawyer Roger Behle, called Homemade Productions, Inc.
“There’s a few right now that we’re in talks on,” Tarek told Heavy, “so we’re looking to get more involved in the production and TV space.”
In addition to seeing himself as the star, Tarek said he wants to find “other talent, too” and that he expects some shows they’re developing will be on-air within a year.
“I’m looking to bring other talent on to start producing shows outside of myself being the talent,” he explained. “We’re working on a bunch of concepts right now, so I would hope some of them would hit in within the next 12 months.”
As he develops his ideas and finds talent, he then pitches the shows to network execs, he said, prioritizing networks under the Warner Bros. Discovery umbrella, which is the parent company for HGTV.
Tarek also said he’s pumped for the second season of “The Flipping El Moussas” with Heather, which their company produces in partnership with DIGA Studios, according to Deadline.
“This season, in my opinion, is just so much better than season one for a combination of reasons,” he told Heavy. “Season one was our first year of flipping houses together, our first time filming together. So it was a lot of firsts for us, right? And you know, after doing anything for some time you just get better at it and we’re just really in a groove.”
Tarek continued, “It’s hands-down the best houses I’ve ever done, meaning even better than any houses I was doing on ‘Flip or Flop.’ These are my favorite houses I’ve ever remodeled.”
Tarek said the biggest difference is the design of each is elevated, adding, “Heather is a huge part of that. She’s the driving force behind it. Of course, it’s a team effort. But, yeah, she’s 100 percent the driving force.”
Tarek El Moussa Doesn’t Rule Out Possibility of Reuniting Onscreen With Ex-Wife Christina Hall
GettyAfter Tarek and Christina eventually divorced in 2018, tensions were high — but they were contractually bound to keep filming with HGTV.
“Christina and I were still under contract and filming the show, but of course the atmosphere on the set was awkward, to say the least,” Tarek writes in his new book. “The production team did their best to keep things positive, efficient and professional, but for months on end, the energy was terrible. Every time I was on the set, I told myself, in so many words, ‘You’re gonna get through this.’ It was about sticking with the basics and taking it one small step at a time.”
The final episode of “Flip or Flop” aired in October 2022, after he and Christina had each launched their own shows on HGTV and both had remarried. Christina married fellow TV personality Ant Anstead and welcoming a son, Hudson, with him in September 2019. After their 2021 divorce, Hall got married for a third time in early 2022 to former police officer Joshua Hall.
Though they hit some highly publicized speed bumps, today the former couple is in a good place as they co-parent their kids, who are now 13 and 8. Tarek told Heavy he even gave Christina an advance copy of “Flip Your Life” to read before it was released.
“Christina and I are doing really well,” he said. “I would say our relationship is, you know, the strongest it’s been in seven yeras. We’re co-parenting great. She has a great relationship with Heather. So things are really good right now.”
Asked whether he’d ever consider filming a show again with Hall, perhaps with both families coming together, Tarek replied, “Crazier things have happened. You know, you just never know.”