There was something special about Christina Hall and Tarek El Moussa when they started hosting Flip or Flop on HGTV back in 2013, and audiences stayed tuned into their house flipping dynamic for a full 10 seasons before they shut the door on that chapter last year. While many were shocked by the announcement that Flip or Flop was ending, it was probably more surprising that it made it that long in the first place, due to its hosts breaking up four years in, and Hall recently opened up about what it was like to film with her ex-husband for so long.
The El Moussas went through some tough times in the early days of Flip or Flop, and Tarek admitted he “hit rock bottom” as he battled cancer and a back injury. It didn’t get any easier for them personally, as they split in 2017 before divorcing in 2018, and the host of Christina on the Coast and Christina in the Country — both of which were just renewed by HGTV — explained how she and her ex-husband made it work. She told US Weekly (via Deadline):
There were hard, tense days, but it wasn’t a reality show based on a marriage; it was still about the houses, so that made it easier. We had to show up, do our jobs and then went home and didn’t have to talk to each other.
While their relationship — and therefore the tension between them — was certainly an aspect of Flip or Flop, it was ultimately a home renovation show. No matter what was happening between her and Tarek El Moussa, Christina Hall could always turn the focus back on the work and then walk away at the end of the day. She was not required to get on camera and talk about the state of their relationship, as she might have been on a different kind of reality show.
That doesn’t mean that their personal issues never caused problems on set though. In 2021 it was reported that Tarek El Moussa went on a tirade against Christina Hall, with El Moussa reportedly calling his ex-wife a “washed up loser” and saying his then-fiancée Heather Rae Young (now his wife) was richer and hotter than Hall. The exes also allegedly had to film scenes separately several times, or take a day to cool off before returning to set.
Such a situation could only last so long, so it actually makes sense as they each moved on in their personal lives that their professional lives would also start to take different paths. Flip or Flop had become “too intimate” of a setting for where they were with their new partners, and they’ve both moved on to new shows with their new spouses.
Josh Hall appears on his wife’s HGTV series Christina in the Country and Christina on the Coast, which airs at 9 p.m. ET Thursdays, and the first season of The Flipping El Moussas, which stars Tarek and Heather Rae, wrapped on the network in April. You can also catch Christina Hall on the Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge, which airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on HGTV, and keep an eye on our 2023 TV schedule for all of the other upcoming premiere dates.