Tarek El Moussa Has Made Some Controversial Decisions
Real estate guru Tarek El Moussa first stepped onto the scene in 2013 via the HGTV show Flip or Flop, a series he co-stars on with his now ex-wife, Christina Anstead (formerly El Moussa). Unlike other house-flipping shows, like the now-defunct Fixer Upper, Flip or Flop projects a glossy vibe of wealth and ambition, as it's based in the expensive area of Southern California. And in comparison to Jo and Chip Gaines' marriage, Anstead and El Moussa had their fair share of public speed bumps. What's more? El Moussa is far from being low-key, whether it's on social media or in his personal life. It seems as though the dad of two is always getting into some mess with his fans or ex-wife, which might explain why he has lasted so long in the competitive world of reality TV.
Of course, not all press is good press, despite what some people might think. It looks as though this memo hasn't reached El Moussa's desk yet, however, as he's still managing to incite drama on the regular. Like that time he dated a certain someone too close to home only months after splitting from Anstead, or when one of his decisions got the cops involved.
We don't want to be too judgmental here, but man, Tarek El Moussa has made some controversial decisions throughout the years. Ready for the drama? Because things are about to get wild.
Tarek El Moussa might need to work on his communication skills
About six months before Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead filed for divorce in January 2017, the two were involved in an explosive domestic incident. People reports that it all started when El Moussa allegedly stormed out of the family's Orange County home, taking a gun with him into a nearby state park. It wasn't clear at the time what made him leave with a weapon, but a family friend confirmed seeing him wordlessly remove the gun from a safe in the now-exes' bedroom. The concerned pal called Anstead to warn her about El Moussa's behavior, spurring her to rush home. A neighbor described Anstead as "shaking and crying" upon arrival, and claimed to witness El Moussa running out of the house. After police helicopters located him on a hiking trail, he complied when asked to drop his weapon as they feared he was suicidal.
El Moussa has consistently denied this, however, telling Dr. Oz in 2018: "I have a CCW, California Concealed Carry, which means I can legally carry a firearm. I live in the canyons, where there's wildlife and bobcats and mountain lions, and I literally went on a hike." He called the incident a "huge misunderstanding."
Even if El Moussa is being truthful, why would he leave without explaining himself to his family friend? His seemingly odd behavior arguably led to wasted resources and caused needless upset. All we can hope is he's learned his lesson.
Christina Anstead was offended by this insensitive joke
When Tarek El Moussa took a gun on a solo hike in May 2016, he ended up scaring his then-wife, Christina Anstead. And it's fair to assume she wasn't eager to relive the moment. Sadly, Anstead was forced to revisit this situation when he posted a since-deleted photo making light of the whole gun thing. TMZ reports that the snap showed El Moussa at a bar in Arizona, standing under a sign that read, "No guns, weapons of any type." The real estate star added a caption beneath the sign, writing, "or Helicopters." Making matters even worse? He tagged Anstead in the pic and included a middle finger emoji.
The following day, Anstead seemingly responded to El Moussa's post (via Cosmopolitan) with a quote about having "no time for bulls**t when you're building an empire." She added, "True That... Only surround yourself with the best."
A source close to El Moussa told TMZ the post was meant as a joke and the middle finger was directed at the "whole situation" as opposed to Anstead. But the Christina on the Coast star didn't get his humor, with an insider claiming the original post was all about jealousy. "Although they still shoot the show together ... Christina's doing more solo speaking engagements," TMZ reported about the exes' success outside of Flip or Flop. Whatever the reason, the "joke" wasn't too cool.
Tarek El Moussa's shocking steroids admission
Tarek El Moussa is no stranger to making mistakes, even at the expense of his personal life. A perfect example of this? El Moussa admitted in 2018 to taking steroids and testosterone injections while recovering from testicular and thyroid cancers. The reality star claimed an "anti-aging specialist" convinced him to take the harmful combination, despite the fact that his testosterone levels were normal (via Page Six), and he stuck with it even as his life began to crumble. "I would find myself just sitting alone and just being depressed," he said on the The Dr. Drew Podcast (via Entertainment Weekly). "It's all because of all the s**t that was being pumped into my body just turned me into someone that wasn't me. In 20/20 hindsight I think, 'How in the hell did I film a show, start a company, how did I do all these things?' I was so spun out from all the s**t they gave me."
As far as the real reasons behind the El Moussas divorce, Tarek said (via Page Six), "There's a lot of contributing factors [to the divorce] — life is moving so fast. We bought a house, remodeling the house ... my hormonal levels were off, and I wasn't feeling really well a lot of the time, and I wasn't being the best person I could have been."
Although it's unfortunate to hear El Moussa continued on with this behavior for quite some time, at least he's doing better now.
Wait — he dated who?
Although Tarek El Moussa and Christina Anstead filed for divorce in January 2017, they officially separated shortly following their domestic incident in May 2016. About four months later, El Moussa was spotted out on a date with a very interesting someone — the exes' former nanny, Alyssa Logan. Woah.
The two didn't publicly confirm their relationship, but TMZ reported that El Moussa "essentially canned" Logan (who was 23 at the time) from the position after he "began having feelings" for her. They struck up a romantic relationship, making things official in September 2016, before the gossip rag caught them hanging out at a country concert that October. The pair broke up shortly after, however, possibly because El Moussa and Anstead were allegedly considering getting back together.
As one can imagine, El Moussa dating the nanny just months after his split spurred a bunch of headlines. When asked about the interesting choice in romantic partner, he told Us Weekly in March 2017, "I was going through a tough time, and she's amazing."
We can't say for certain, but it sounds like El Moussa was with Logan for emotional comfort as opposed to it being serious. We're not going to judge here, but we do find it interesting that the dad splurged on an over $40,000 birthday present for another nanny named Mossy in June 2018. "Friends think he has the hots for Mossy," a source told Life & Style (via In Touch) at the time. Oy.
Tarek El Moussa's accidental slip of the tongue
Out of all of Tarek El Moussa's controversial decisions, him spoiling a special aspect of Christina Anstead's third pregnancy might take the cake. The awkward moment went down in April 2019, just one month after Christina announced she and her husband, Ant Anstead, were expecting a baby. El Moussa was very congratulatory when discussing the news with TMZ, but things took a turn when he decided to reveal an important detail about the impending birth. "She's having a son," he told the outlet, news the expectant parents didn't get the chance to share themselves.
We've got to ask — why did El Moussa feel need to share such private news? The Ansteads seemed just as confused by the word vomit, with a rep telling Us Weekly, "While Christina and Ant wished they could have shared the news themselves, they are very excited to welcome a baby boy in the fall."
Although El Moussa said the slip was accidental, we can't help but wonder if he spilled the beans intentionally. Some fans share this suspicion, as one person on Twitter wrote, "But obviously that is NOT his news to share." Another person commented, "'Accidentally' on purpose."
The most important thing here, however, is the health and happiness of Christina's baby boy, Hudson. Congrats again, mom!
Is Tarek El Moussa moving too fast?
When Tarek El Moussa started dating reality star Heather Rae Young in July 2019, many fans were happy he had found love again. But some supporters felt he was moving too fast, especially since he was already considering taking a big step months later. "We've definitely talked about [a proposal], but we're just kinda rolling with things right now," he told Us Weekly that November. "We're living life and we're going to Europe together in a few weeks. We're gonna go to Amsterdam for four days and then Paris for four days."
What's more? The Flip or Flop mogul gifted Young with a pricey gift for her birthday that September — a $250,000 Ferrari. Although the present was pretty extravagant, it sounds like El Moussa was just being romantic. "Well, on our first date, I asked her, 'What was your dream car your entire life?' She's like, 'Well, every girl's dream car is a white Ferrari,'" he recounted to Us Weekly. "So, I thought it would be fitting to get her white Ferrari for her birthday!"
Either way, it seems many fans thought the gesture was too much. "Is he trying to compete with a baby?" one fan tweeted, likely in reference to the arrival of Christina Anstead's new baby on Sept. 6, 2019, while someone else wrote, "Wow, flipping houses must be lucrative?"
Of course, who's to say how El Moussa should spend his money. To each their own!
Well, this is awkward...
There's a lot to admire about Tarek El Moussa's new girlfriend, Selling Sunset star Heather Rae Young. Not only is she killing it in the real estate game, but she seems to genuinely care about El Moussa's two young kids, which is essential for their relationship to succeed. The only problem? Fans think Young looks a lot like El Moussa's ex-wife, Christina Anstead.
"Come on Tarek can't you find a girl who doesn't look like Christina," one person tweeted, a fair assessment given how both women have blonde hair and brown eyes. Someone else wrote: "OMG! Can she LOOK anymore like Christina."
Personally, we do see a resemblance between Anstead and Young. Is there a possibility El Moussa sought out the reality star because of this reason? Maybe. Or, it could mean nothing more than El Moussa possibly having a type. What matters most is El Moussa's happiness, which seems on point these days. "I'm in this new relationship with Heather," he told Hollywood Life in November 2019. "And it's turned out to be way better than I thought it would be and it gets better by the day."
The way Tarek El Moussa's girlfriend and ex-wife met
Introducing a new partner to an ex can be awkward, especially when you spring the meeting on both parties. But that's exactly what Tarek El Moussa did when he set up an impromptu meeting between his new girlfriend, Heather Rae Young, and ex-wife, Christina Anstead. As for how the interesting get together came to be? "I was like, 'Oh, I'm coming over to see the kids. By the way, my girlfriend is coming,'" he recalled during a September 2019 appearance on GMA3: Strahan, Sara & Keke (via Us Weekly). "'See you in five!'"
Not only was Anstead in the dark about the crossing of paths, but so was Young. "That's literally how it went down," El Moussa continued. "I looked at Heather, and I was like, 'Are you ready?' And she was like, 'Ready for what?' I was like, 'Well, we're going to go see the kids, and my ex-wife is there.'" He added, "And she goes, 'What do you mean?' And I'm like, 'No. We're going right now.' She's like, 'Right now. Right now?' I was like, 'Right now. Right now.' So that's how they met."
Luckily, this all didn't blow up in El Moussa's face. "I didn't really know what to expect, so we just kind of did it and it all worked out okay," he told Hollywood Life. "I was happy with it."
We're confused by this move-in timeline
As we've mentioned, Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young are on the fast track to marriage. So we weren't surprised when Young's co-star on Netflix's Selling Sunset, Maya Vander, mentioned during a September 2019 interview with Us Weekly that the lovebirds had shacked up after two months of dating. "Their relationship is going very well. They just moved in together," Vander claimed to the outlet."They're very happy. She loves being in the relationship."
Four months after Vander's revelation, however, Us Weekly published a spread featuring El Moussa and Young's new digs in West Hollywood, California. The article claimed the pair had moved in together "six months" after making it official, which has us confused about this relationship timeline. It's especially perplexing because the same article noted how Young had already been living with El Moussa at his Orange County abode prior to renting the property in Los Angeles. So what's the truth here?
Either way, some fans are worried El Moussa is moving too fast. "He looks so happy but way too soon," one person tweeted in response to an article teasing the couple's plans to shack up together. As for our opinion? These two are more than welcome to do whatever makes them happy. And thrilled is the best adjective to describe these paramours. "I'm excited about this relationship with her," El Moussa gushed to Us Weekly. "I'm excited about raising our kids together. I'm excited about getting married one day."
Tarek El Moussa's involvement in this controversy is questionable
Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for celebrities to be caught endorsing questionable products, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Tarek El Moussa found himself in this exact situation in October 2019, when he and ex-wife Christina Anstead were mentioned in a complaint filed to the Federal Trade Commission about so-called phony real estate classes. The drama is a bit difficult to dissect, but here's what's going on: Utah-based Zurixx LLC reportedly held free real estate events promoted by Anstead and El Moussa, which promised customers would learn the basics of the business. But when guests arrived, they were allegedly encouraged to sign up for a three-day class that cost $1,997, according to the The Orange County Register. Making matters shadier? Once in the class, participants were allegedly pressured to "apply for new credit cards and increase the credit limits on existing cards," and were prodded to use credit to pay for "additional training that cost more than $41,000," per the OCR. Yikes.
This isn't the first time El Moussa and Anstead have been tied to shady real estate classes. The exes' Success, Path, Education program received criticism in 2016, when a customer who attended the seminar, Doug Stephens, told Good Morning America, "If you think you're getting Tarek and Christina, you're not going to get them. You're going to get some sales pitch the entire time." Anstead defended herself and El Moussa to the outlet, arguing, "I stand by our product."