When HGTV's Tarek El Moussa laid eyes on realtor Heather Rae Young in 2019,
everything changed. Now, the TV power couple is planning their dream wedding.
Here's what you need to know about their relationship so far.
While their love story may seem magical now, it didn't start off that way. When Tarek El Moussa
and Heather Rae Young met for the very first time, he was immediately interested in her and eager to
strike up a conversation. Funnily enough, she even recognized him right away. He, of course,
was flattered, thinking it was because he's a reality TV star, but that actually wasn't the
reason she knew him so well. As he revealed on the podcast "Not Skinny But Not Fat,"
"She goes, 'I know you, because you already asked me out.'"
It turns out, El Moussa had been on Instagram weeks beforehand
and had sent a private message to Young before ever meeting her. Yet,
when he asked her out on a date over a DM, she quickly declined. Young explained on the podcast,
"This was, like, right before I filmed the pilot [of "Selling Sunset"] actually,
and I was living in another country with my ex-boyfriend."
Luckily, the house flipper got another chance to meet up with Young in-person
soon after their somewhat-awkward encounter online, and the rest is history.
Joining a party on a boat called "Bad Decisions" turned out to be one of the best decisions that
Heather Rae Young ever made. It was Fourth of July weekend in 2019 when it all happened.
While she was out enjoying the Pacific, she spotted some of her friends on a boat parked
nearby. That's when she was approached by the owner of that boat. Young told Cosmopolitan,
"He, like, turned around and he was like, 'Hi, I'm Tarek.'"
The HGTV star immediately asked for her number. When she returned to her own boat,
another man was quick to hit on her, too, which El Moussa was not happy about at the time.
As he said on the podcast "Not Skinny But Not Fat," his first thought was,
"There's another dude talking to my girl."
El Moussa did the only thing he could think of. He honked the horn
on his boat for as long as he could as a distraction. That small gesture ended
up being something special. Of that fateful day, Young wrote on Instagram,
"Honking your boat horn at me the day we met,
that will forever be the moment that you became my game changer."
After Tarek El Moussa first introduced himself to Heather Rae Young,
he immediately asked her out on a date to Paris. As she reminisced to Page Six, her response was,
"What?! Do I want to go to Paris with you? No, I don't even know you."
Another idea he had was to simply go out for drinks, to which Young eventually agreed.
In hindsight, however, it seems she was hesitant about going out
with the HGTV star the whole time. El Moussa later revealed on Instagram,
"She almost canceled our first date [...]⁣ When we think back
to the beginning [Heather Rae Young] and I laugh about how she almost didn’t even
come to our first date [...] I don’t know where I’d be if she didn’t."
Obviously, in the end, Young did have a drink with El Moussa, and the two
ended up talking for six hours. Even after leaving the date, Young revealed to Page Six,
"[We were] FaceTiming the whole way home."
Four months later, they finally took that trip together to Paris, too.
When Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young first expressed their feelings for each other,
it was a memorable moment, and it happened very early in their relationship. They were enjoying
a date together at a restaurant in Laguna Beach when El Moussa said the big "L" word.
"I said, 'Tell me you love me.' It was our fifth
day of knowing each other, and I went, 'I love you.'"
When you know, you know. And it wasn't long before
the couple took another huge step in their relationship together.
While they were dating, Young and El Moussa had to travel back and forth across southern
California in order to see each other. Young was still selling real estate in Los Angeles,
while El Moussa was busy flipping houses nearly an hour away. In order for them to be closer,
the two eventually decided they needed to make a change.
Young packed her bags and never looked back. El Moussa revealed on Instagram,
"We decided to be exclusive after only 5 days and we’ve been inseparable since day one.
I know it’s crazy but we moved in together after only a week."
El Moussa's home in Costa Mesa, California was one
he had moved into after his divorce from Christina Haack. El Moussa told People,
"It was a very defining moment in my life after my
divorce and now it's time to move on to the next chapter."
Nine months into their relationship, the real estate duo put El Moussa's
house up for sale and rented one in Newport Beach to make their own.
After one year of dating, Tarek El Moussa decided it was the best time to ask Heather
Rae Young a very important question. He took her on a special trip to Catalina Island in July
2020 to go boating, hoping she wouldn't expect the big surprise that would be happening next,
even though every moment of their trip was being
documented. As he said at the time on "Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa,"
"I've done everything humanly possible to play it off like we're filming for our normal TV shows."
Young was shocked when he debuted a beautiful eight-carat emerald-cut engagement ring.
Although Young and El Moussa's engagement occurred on a private beach, fans can catch
the whole proposal on his TV show, "Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa." As he told People,
"I just want to let the world know I met someone special that makes me want to be a better man."
"She said yes!"
While the engagement ring that Tarek El Moussa gifted his fiancée will always be special to her,
there was another ring that Heather Rae Young had always dreamed of having.
As she revealed in an Instagram story,
"I never planned my 'dream wedding' but I saved rings I loved for the past 10 years.
Gold with Emerald cut was always my dream ring. My love, future hubby, you have my whole heart."
Six months after announcing their engagement, the two decided to give her eight-carat ring an
upgrade. Along the gold band, Young had a few more diamonds added in to make it shine even
brighter than before. It may not be the same one she was originally gifted by El Moussa,
but it's still just as special. As Young revealed on Instagram,
"We designed it together."
When Heather Rae Young agreed to become Mrs. El Moussa, she also signed up to become a stepmom.
Taylor and Brayden are Tarek El Moussa's two children from his previous marriage.
Young gushed on an episode of "E! Daily Pop,"
"I adore those kids. I raise them like they're mine."
Yet, it has everyone wondering whether the Netflix star ever wants any children of her own.
Between shooting a TV show, becoming a businesswoman, and being a "bonus mom,"
Young actually doesn't have babies on her mind, as she revealed on "E! Daily Pop,"
"I already feel like I have two kids. [...] Right now, no."
The "Selling Sunset" star even received a special bouquet of
flowers from the kids and El Moussa's ex, Christina Haack,
on the first Mother's Day they spent together. Of the sweet gesture, Young wrote on Instagram,
"The kind of family we have is special and my heart is
so full already that I really don't feel the need for more."
"It's so fun to watch their minds work, and the things that they're learning,
it's so cute, I've never experienced this before and it's so special."
Though Heather Rae Young and Tarek El Moussa have no plans to expand their family,
their minds changed after they adopted their first fur baby. Young admitted on Instagram,
"We’ve been thinking about getting a puppy for a while now [...] Bugz was the first
puppy we saw [...] we ended up seeing a few more but we both [fell] in love with Bugz,
I meannn look at her face!! how could you not?!! and now she’s officially apart of our family."
Once El Moussa's two children arrived home from vacation in early August 2021,
the reality TV stars surprised them with the precious puppy. The adorableness obviously
left the two in awe, so Bugz seems to fit in just fine with the family. In fact,
they're even debating giving her a special role in their upcoming wedding.
The holidays have always been about family traditions, and Heather Rae Young started
up a new one when she met Tarek El Moussa. Young explained on Instagram,
"Tarek gave me the job of picking out the outfits for our family Christmas shoot. He said
'I’ll wear whatever you bring home' [...] I decided on matching jammies. [...[ It
was such a fun day, but definitely a little stressful wrangling everyone,
but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Love my new little family!!!!"
Now, every single holiday, the four of them put on matching pajamas for their annual Christmas photo,
but the fun doesn't stop there. A few months beforehand, when Halloween rolls around,
Young and El Moussa love to take the kids trick-or-treating. These two reality stars
even like to put on costumes with them, too. As Young told fans on Instagram,
"Our Halloween was so special. We had so much fun Trick or Treating with the kids. Seeing them
laughing is priceless [...] My life has changed so much and I feel so fulfilled and happy."
Getting engaged wasn't the only way Heather Rae Young made her love for
Tarek El Moussa official. To make it even more permanent,
she had his name tattooed on her hip. The ink reads in cursive writing,
"Yes, sir, Mr. El Moussa."
The reality star first debuted her new ink on Instagram in early February 2021 to show
off this special Valentine's Day gift for her fiancé. Yet, as excited as she was about it,
fans weren't entirely supportive of what her tattoo said, she shared with Us Weekly.
After all the feedback, Young ended up removing the post entirely from the Internet.
Regardless, Young still has the saying on her hip,
and her soon-to-be husband seems to be a fan of it. At the time, El Moussa commented on Instagram,
"Forever and ever and ever."
Tarek El Moussa's home renovation series, "Flip or Flop," has been on the air ever since 2013.
Yet, even after he and his co-star, Christina Haack, separated in 2016,
the show has continued on HGTV. El Moussa told Entertainment Tonight,
"And I really think the episodes are getting better and better."
And it seems as though fans truly agree as they continue to tune in.
Yet, on the other side of things is El Moussa's fiancée Heather Rae Young.
For her, anyone can assume it would be awkward to watch El Moussa alongside his ex-wife on TV,
but this is, surprisingly, something that's never bothered her. She told Radar Online,
"I'm a really confident person, and I'm confident in our relationship [...] I
think what he does and everything he has going is amazing, and I'm fully supportive of him."
Young has good reason to be proud, too.
According to Deadline, "Flip or Flop" is one of the most-viewed series on cable TV.
After seeing their engagement on TV, fans can hardly wait to watch Heather
Rae Young and Tarek El Moussa get hitched. However, this is something that's still up
in the air for the future Mr. and Mrs. El Moussa, as Young explained on Instagram,
"This is a big day for us and for our family, and we don't take that lightly."
Yet, fans shouldn't fret just yet, because the couple actually has a
lot of wedding details that remain undecided. In fact, the two sent out
save-the-dates only to change their minds and send out a second set in August 2021.
"It's going to be my wedding day, it's going to be very personal and very special."
If we do catch a glimpse of the couple's big day, we can all plan to see it on
either "Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa" or "Selling Sunset," they revealed to Entertainment
Tonight. Here's to hoping these two stars get their own wedding special!
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