Drama has got to be one of the most common components in reality television. When maintaining viewers’ interest, it seems like drama between cast members is a key factor in bringing those viewers back every week. There can be drama between family members and friends, but a very common source of drama comes from romantic relationships.
In The Flip Off, Christina Haack competes against her ex Tarek and his new wife Heather in a house flipping competition. While this might seem like the perfect recipe for drama, the three actually get along very well. They’ve even been open about their successful co-parenting. A recent mishap on Instagram Live even showed just how close they really are.
Heather Mistakingly Suggested She, Tarek, And Christina All Live Together In An Instagram Live
Christina Haack, Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae El Moussa have quite a sense of humor when it comes to themselves and their working situation. That working situation is quite different from most people’s. This is documented in their HGTV series, The Flip Off. The show sees Christina competing against her ex-husband, Tarek, and his wife, Heather, in a house-flipping competition.
The three were hosting an Instagram Live stream to celebrate the show’s premiere. During the stream, they were answering fan questions, when one asked about their plans that night.
“We’re hosting a premiere party at our house!” Heather said before realizing her mistake. She then corrected herself, adding, “Not our house — at Christina’s house.”
“We all live here! It’s our new show coming out,” Tarek said jokingly. The three laughed at the mistake and began to laugh even harder when they read the comments from fans reacting to the moment. One comment read, “Three’s Company,” a reference to the classic sitcom about a man living with two female roommates.
Of course, this isn’t the first time the three of them have dealt with comments about their close relationship. When promoting the show for HGTV, one clip showed Tarek reading a comment from a fan who was encouraging them to “just go your separate ways.” The clip was posted to Instagram.
“We have children!!” Christina responded laughing, adding, “We’re stuck together forever!” “What do you want me to do? I got two kids with her [motioning to Christina]. I got one kid with her [motioning to Heather]. I’m stuck in the middle!” Tarek added. Tarek and Christina share daughter Taylor, who is 14, and son Brayden, who is 9. He also has son with Heather, Tristan, who is 2.
The original premise for The Flip Off was to have Heather and Tarek competing against Christina and her husband, Josh Hall. But that concept needed to be adjusted in July 2024 when Josh filed for divorce from Christina. Therefore, all promotion for the show since then have featured Christina, Tarek and Heather. In a press release, HGTV would go on to say that Christina would complete this season by working with a “trusted team” instead of a single partner.
Christina later told People that she “knew” her marriage to Josh would end soon after filming began. According to Christina, she had been having conversations with Tarek and Heather about her marital problems, so they weren’t surprised by the divorce.
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“Honestly, her well being is very important to us,” Tarek told the outlet. “Not just because of her, but because of the kids, too, right? So ultimately, we are all family and it’s hard to see her got through a challenging situation. I know you [Christina] really put in the effort, and in the end it just wasn’t a good place for her or the kids, so I think they’re all in a better place now.”
Tarek, Christina, And Heather Shared How They’ve Mastered Co-Parenting
Given their unconventional situation, Tarek, Christina, and Heather needed to master co-parenting. In addition to that, they needed to master getting along. In a recent interview with HGTV, the three of them opened up about their journey and what they’ve learned along the way.
“The co-parenting has been smooth going all the way back to 2016,” Tarek shared. “Divorce is very tough, and kids are sensitive and we want to make sure the kids are taken care of. Over the last four years, it’s gotten even stronger bringing Heather into our world, and Heather being a stepmom and building a relationship with Christina, and all of us working together. It’s brought us all back together as a family.”
Christina highlighted the importance of never making the kids aware of any tension. “Despite any issues or arguments that we were having, the kids never knew about any of it, right? The kids have never thought we weren’t getting along, but those are issues from a while ago,” she said. “Things have been good for many years.” With Heather adding, “The kids get extra love.”
Heather even praised Christina for how she handled the situation, saying, “I really praise her because being a mom and letting another woman come in isn’t easy. She’s really let me come in and parent them.” Christina added, “They’re super happy kids.”
As far as Christina is concerned, the feeling is mutual. She had a lot of praise for Heather in return, saying, “I’d much rather have a stepmom who cares about my kids, who cares about everyone’s well-being than someone who’s selfish and who I don’t like. I’d much prefer someone my kids love … everyone should want to support each other — especially when it comes to kids.”
In fact, Heather even said there are plenty of moments where she and Christina work together. “It’s nice too because [Christina] and I can help keep each other organized, because there’s a lot of school stuff and sports stuff,” she revealed. “She and I are constantly talking every day about that stuff. We share the sports bags and the school backpacks. It’s a lot of coordinating and really helping each other.”
When asked what advice they each had for others struggling to co-parent, Christina said it’s important not to hold grudges. “I’ve noticed some people can hold on to grudges and die like that,” she said. “If you put things into perspective … [these things] don’t really matter. Everyone goes through trials, hard times, and it’s really how you move forward.”
Tarek agreed, saying, “Yes, co-parenting adults need to accept responsibility,” he said. “If someone isn’t having a great time co-parenting, they need to make changes in order to make that co-parenting more productive and successful.”
Christina added, “The ones that are affected are the children.” Heather added to that idea, saying, “They’re innocent in it. It’s not their choice. They’re the most important. You just have to be adults and put the hard times behind you and show up for the kids.” Tarek then said, “Sometimes you just have to bite your tongue and deal with things you don’t want to deal with, for the greater good of your children. I don’t know how else to put it.”
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Another significant aspect of co-parenting successfully, according to Christina, is communication. “We’re in a group text,” she said. “We try to stay organized. I have three kids in three different schools. They have two kids in two different schools, plus a two-year-old. It’s a lot to manage and if you’re not working together at it that could be difficult.”
Christina Revealed Her Emotional Confessions To Tarek Was Not Planned
In the season premiere of The Flip Off, Christina had an emotional conversation with Tarek. This moment got a lot of attention from viewers, who wondered how real the scene was. Some wondered if it was planned and if the emotion coming from Christina was authentic.
In a recent interview with People, Christina insisted to viewers that her conversation with Tarek, and her subsequent emotional reaction, was completely genuine. According to Christina, the show’s producer asked her to tell Tarek that she would be getting a divorce. However, she says all her confessions that followed “[weren’t] even intentional.” She went on to say that everything “just came out,” since she had kept so much bottled up since splitting from Tarek in 2016. Christina also said she was in a very vulnerable state at the time, which is understandable.
“When [Tarek] came over, I had been dealing with this in real-time for a week or two, and so I was just emotional, hadn’t been sleeping,” Christina said, referring to her feelings in the wake of her split from Josh. “And so he walks in and then I just like, it all just came out.”
She continued, “None of it was intentional, but I think it was definitely healing for both of us. And I think some closure for viewers that have watched us since our mid-twenties and just seeing the real raw moment. It was very authentic and it wasn’t planned.”
In the emotional scene, both Christina and Tarek explore what went wrong in their marriage. This led both of them to apologize to each other. “I know we’re in a good place now,” Christina told Tarek. “But yeah, we went through a lot of stuff. I don’t think anyone understands just how much stuff we went through. We met when we were so young. When our stuff imploded, I felt like not only did I lose… we were best friends, but also I felt like I lost like, I need to be a full-time mom. And that really, really, really hurt me a lot and really affected me.”
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Tarek responded to Christina by saying, “I understand that feeling of being a little bit lost. And I acknowledge that I’m a big part, if not the entire part, of all of this. Christina added, “I’m really sorry for s***. I really am. I just want you to know that.” She began to cry and continued to say “I’m sorry” as Tarek comforted her. Christina asked Tarek to forgive her, to which a tearful Tarek said, “A hundred percent. I did a lot of things too. I hold zero against you.”
