Tarek El Moussa’s Mom Wants HGTV Fans to Stop Being ‘Mean’ to Her Son

Tarek El Moussa’s mom, Dominique El Moussa-Arnould, is so tired of people saying unkind things about her son that she’s taken matters into her own hands, addressing them directly on social media. With the recent premiere of HGTV‘s new series, “The Flipping El Moussas,” there’s been lots of online buzz about him and his family — and it’s not always positive.

Since the premiere, El Moussa-Arnould, who will appear in an episode of the new show, has responded to multiple fan comments posted on the Heavy on HGTV Facebook page. She began by sticking up for her new daughter-in-law, Heather Rae El Moussa, who married Tarek in October 2022 and gave birth in January to their first child together, Tristan Jay.

While acknowledging that everyone has a right to speak their mind, especially given that Tarek and Heather are public figures, El Moussa-Arnould has taken issue with those who’ve left comments she called “mean” and also tried to set the record straight about Tarek’s current relationship with his former wife and “Flip or Flop” co-star Christina Hall.

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Dominique El Moussa-Arnould Says She Has a ‘Hard Time’ With Unkind Comments About Her Famous Son

El Moussa-Arnould is very close with Tarek, who has been vocal about how hard his mom worked as a teacher and tutor when he and his older sister, hair salon owner Angelique, were kids.

In 2018, Tarek told Country Living that his dad was “raised Catholic in the Middle East in Lebanon and then Egypt,” and later moved to Europe, where he met his future wife, who’s originally from Belgium. The couple immigrated to the U.S. but are no longer together.

El Moussa-Arnould has stood by her son through some major challenges over the years, including battling two types of cancer, a debilitating back surgery, and his split from Hall, who married real estate broker Josh Hall in early 2022, and with whom Tarek shares two kids — 12-year-old daughter Taylor and seven-year-old son Brayden.

A recent post featuring a quote from Tarek, shared on the Heavy on HGTV Facebook page, drew lots of comments about him and his new show, both positive and negative, remarking on everything from his relationships to the quality of his renovations. El Moussa-Arnould thanked a couple of people who complimented Tarek, and also used the forum to share how proud she is of her son.

“So proud of all your achievements dear son,” she wrote, “You have come a long way since your two cancers and nasty back surgery. Love you.”

A fan who realized that Tarek’s own mom was reading snarky comments about Tarek and Heather, replied to El Moussa-Arnould by writing, “It must be difficult reading these comments. I wish them good luck. They deserve happiness. He’s worked very hard to get where he is today.”

El Moussa-Arnould responded, “It is. But people have the right to their opinion but I have a hard time with mean spiteful comments. It is okay to just say: no, not for me or something. But yes they work very hard. I don’t know how they do it. I was a teacher for 30 years and that was busy. Lol”

Sharing that she’ll appear in a future episode of the new show, El Moussa-Arnould continued, “I wish people could see the homes with their own eyes. It is amazing how they are transformed. Basically you get a brand new house.”

Another fan advised El Moussa-Arnould not to read the negative comments about Tarek or his show, writing, “You should really not look at this stuff. You should not put yourself in a position to read stuff like this. Reguardless if he is loved or hated, he has done well for himself. You have done good Mama and so has he.”

In response, El Moussa-Arnould wrote, “thank you very much. Such a kind response. Have a wonderful day.”

In May 2022, in a birthday tribute to his mom on Instagram, Tarek wrote about how much he appreciated her always having his back.

“My mom taught me the definition of hard work by working two jobs while I was growing up and she also taught me not to take sh** from anyone! She was always fierce and fought for what she believed in.”

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Tarek El Moussa’s Mom Responds to Comments on Christina Hall: ‘Marriage is Hard’

El Moussa-Arnould, who recently shared on Instagram that her grandkids call her “granma Coucou or just Coucou,” also weighed in on how things are going between Tarek and his ex-wife, who went through a messy and highly-publicized split, eventually divorcing in 2018.

On the Heavy on HGTV post, many people commented that, after watching “The Flipping El Moussas,” they thought Heather, a real estate broker who also stars on Netflix’s “Selling Sunset,” looked like a replica of Hall but didn’t measure up since her expertise isn’t in flipping houses.

One wrote, “I believe she really is a sweet person but she doesn’t know design and I feel they are trying too hard with the affection on the show, to get back at his ex.”

El Moussa-Arnould took issue with that, writing, “Get back at his ex? Why would they need to? They are all in a good place working hard. Christina loves Josh. Tarek loves Heather. There is no ill feelings any longer. Life goes on as we know and it is very short.”

In response to another post, El Moussa-Arnould shared her insights on the complexities of marriage, including her son’s relationships and her own, revealing that she was married to his dad for 25 years before they split. In 2010, El Moussa-Arnould married Robert Carroll, according to his Facebook profile, which also says he works for one of his son-in-law’s companies, Tarek Buys Houses, as a Market Analyst & Acquisition Specialist.

When a fan of Tarek’s questioned on Facebook “how Christina let him go,” El Moussa-Arnould replied, “Life can sometimes be difficult. All I know is they loved each other until the day it was broken. It happens to many of us. It happened to me after 25 years of marriage.”

She continued, “But today they are both happy on their new life and have both found peace with each other and they both strive to give their children a family who gets along. So much better than bitterness. I, myself see my ex all the time in family gatherings since we had 2 kids together but it was not easy at the beginning. We all know marriage is hard.”

When that fan replied that she had gotten divorced after 30 years but was grateful to have her children in her life, El Moussa-Arnould replied, “Yes family first in all forms.”

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