Real estate guru Tarek El Moussa first stepped onto the scene in 2013 with HGTV's Flip or
Flop, a series he co-stars on with his now ex-wife, Christina Anstead.
Considering he always seems to be getting into some type of mess with his fans or his
ex, Tarek El Moussa has made some controversial decisions.
About six months before El Moussa and 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 without saying anything,
but a family friend confirmed seeing him remove the gun from a safe in his 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.
El Moussa has consistently denied that he'd had any plans to take his own life, however,
telling Dr. Oz in 2018:
"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."
El Moussa called the incident a "huge misunderstanding" on her part.
Even if that's true, his seemingly odd behavior arguably led to wasted resources and caused
needless upset.
When El Moussa took a gun on that impromptu solo hike in May 2016, he clearly ended up
scaring his then-wife.
And it's fair to assume she wasn't eager to relive the moment.
Sadly, Anstead was forced to revisit it when he posted a since-deleted photo making light
of the whole gun situation.
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.
According to Cosmopolitan, Anstead seemingly responded to El Moussa's post the next day
with a quote about having:
"No time for bulls--- when you're building an empire."
In the caption, 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 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.
Discussing her success outside of Flip or Flop, TMZ reported,
"Although they still shoot the show together [...] Christina's doing more solo speaking
engagements."
Whatever the reason, El Moussa's so-called joke didn't exactly land.
El Moussa is no stranger to making mistakes, even at the expense of his personal life.
A perfect example is when he admitted in 2018 to taking steroids and testosterone injections
while recovering from testicular and thyroid cancers.
The reality star claimed that an "anti-aging specialist" had convinced him to take the
harmful combination, despite the fact that his testosterone levels were normal, according
to Page Six — and he stuck with it even as his life began to crumble.
On The Dr. Drew Podcast, he admitted,
"I would find myself just sitting alone and just being depressed.
It's all because of all the s--- 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--- they gave me."
Discussing the real reasons behind his divorce, El Moussa told 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."
“The medication when you're going through that makes you act a way that's not you…”
“It cost me so much."
Thankfully, El Moussa's doing much better now.
Out of all of El Moussa's controversial decisions, his spoiling a special aspect of Anstead's
third pregnancy is right up there at the top.
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, telling the outlet,
"She's having a son."
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, it was hard not to wonder if he spilled the
beans intentionally.
Some fans shared the suspicion, with one person on Twitter writing,
"But obviously that is NOT his news to share."
Another person commented,
"'Accidentally' on purpose."
Of course, the most important thing here is the health and happiness of Christina's baby
boy, Hudson.
Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for celebrities to be caught endorsing questionable products,
whether knowingly or unknowingly.
El Moussa found himself in this exact situation in October 2019, when he and his ex-wife 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 went down: 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 Orange County Register.
Making matters shadier?
Once in the class, participants were allegedly pressured to, quote,
"Apply for new credit cards and increase the credit limits on existing cards [to pay for]
additional training that cost more than $41,000."
Yikes.
This isn't the first time El Moussa and Anstead have been tied to shady real estate classes,
either.
The exes' Success, Path, Education program received criticism in 2016, when a customer
who attended the seminar 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."
When El Moussa started dating reality star Heather Rae Young in July 2019, many fans
were happy he had found love again.
But everyone's got their opinions, and some supporters felt he was moving too fast — especially
since he was already considering taking a big step months later.
He told Us Weekly that November,
"We've definitely talked about [a proposal], but we're just kinda rolling with things right
now.
[...] 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."
"After all the hardships I've experienced, and there's so many ups and downs in life,
sometimes having fun is like the best medicine."
The Flip or Flop mogul gave Young 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.
He recalled to Us Weekly,
"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.
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.
In reference to the arrival of his ex-wife's new baby in September 2019, one fan tweeted,
"Is he trying to compete with a baby?"
Another user wrote,
"Wow, flipping houses must be lucrative?"
Of course, who's to say how El Moussa should spend his money.
To each their own, right?
There's a lot to admire about El Moussa's girlfriend.
Not only is she killing it in the real estate game and a star of Selling Sunset, but she
seems to genuinely care about El Moussa's two young kids.
The only problem?
Fans think Young looks a heck of a lot like El Moussa's ex-wife.
One fan tweeted,
"Come on Tarek can't you find a girl who doesn't look like Christina."
Someone else wrote:
"OMG!
Can she LOOK anymore like Christina."
It's not hard to see a resemblance between Anstead and Young.
Is it possible El Moussa sought out the reality star for that reason?
Maybe.
It could also mean nothing more than El Moussa possibly having a type.
What matters most is their happiness, which seems on point these days.
He told Hollywood Life in November 2019,
"I'm in this new relationship with Heather.
And it's turned out to be way better than I thought it would be and it gets better by
the day."
“We just have so much fun."
Introducing a new partner to an ex can be awkward, especially when you spring the meeting
on both parties.
But that's exactly what El Moussa did when he set up an impromptu meeting between Young
and Anstead.
During an interview with Strahan, Sara, and Keke, El Moussa spilled the details on how
the get together happened.
"I was like, 'Oh, I'm coming over to see the kids.
By the way, my girlfriend is coming.
See you in five!'”
“Oh my God!"
Not only was Anstead in the dark about the crossing of paths, but apparently Young was,
too.
El Moussa simply announced to his girlfriend that they were about to head over to see his
ex-wife and her kids.
"She's like, '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, it didn't all blow up in El Moussa's face.
According to him, they got along very well, particularly because, in his words,
"[Both women] love that healthy hippie food [and] they drink the weird juice."
He also told Hollywood Life,
"I didn't really know what to expect, so we just kind of did it and it all worked out
okay.
I was happy with it."
El Moussa and Young are on the fast track to marriage.
So it wasn't surprising 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.
She claimed,
"Their relationship is going very well.
They just moved in together.
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 left fans confused about this relationship timeline.
Either way, some fans are worried El Moussa is moving too fast.
In response to an article teasing the couple's plans to shack up together, one person tweeted,
"He looks so happy but way too soon."
At the end of the day, these two are more than welcome to do whatever makes them happy.
El Moussa gushed to Us Weekly,
"I'm excited about this relationship with her.
I'm excited about raising our kids together.
I'm excited about getting married one day."
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