Christina Haack seemed to have found her fairy tale after heartbreak when she fell madly
in love with Ant Anstead a few months after splitting with her husband, Tarek El Moussa.
Unfortunately, their short-lived marriage may have been doomed from the start.
Though it's certainly not always the case, the first sign that a relationship maybe isn't
off to the best start is when both parties are technically still married to other people.
That's what happened here, as Christina Haack and Ant Anstead quietly started their romance
in October 2017, per House Beautiful.
And while Christina announced her separation from Tarek El Moussa in December 2016, their
divorce wasn't officially finalized until January 2018.
As for the "Wheeler Dealers" host, he was previously married to Louise Anstead.
Ant confirmed they'd gone their separate ways in an October 2017 tweet, around the same
time fans began to speculate he was seeing Christina.
Almost a year later, in July 2018, People reported that Ant was, quote, "still in the
process" of finalizing his split with Louise.
Meanwhile, Christina was gushing about their relationship.
Even after going their separate ways romantically, Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa very much
remain in each other's lives, which maybe wouldn't be ideal for a lot of former couples.
As well as keeping in contact to co-parent their two children, son Brayden and daughter
Taylor, Christina and Tarek continued to spend a lot of time together to continue filming
their HGTV series, "Flip or Flop."
"Like the goal is for the kids to feel happy and settled.
And that's what, we want the same thing."
Tarek admitted that working together after splitting was a, quote, "up and down" decision
for the two during a joint interview with "Today" in December 2018, while Christina
added:
"Most importantly, we have two amazing kids together.
So it's just easier to work together and get along."
As for whether the two actually wanted to work together as they moved on in their personal
lives is another matter.
Christina appeared to suggest that keeping their professional lives entangled was a bit
more of a business decision than it was a personal one while speaking to People about
her divorce in 2018:
"Tarek and I were so tied together on everything: real estate, the show, our children, our house.
It was so stressful, and everyone was worried that it was going to explode."
"I will go into labor in this house before I let you design it."
Christina Haack and Ant Anstead didn't exactly take things slow — which probably isn't
too surprising seeing as Christina told Good Housekeeping she moved in with Tarek El Moussa
the same day they started dating.
Yes.
The same day.
Christina and Ant went Instagram official in January 2018, three months after they started
dating.
Things then went at a pretty quick pace, with Ant showing Christina around his hometown
with a trip to England in March 2018, and in December 2018, Christina and Ant officially
married in a surprise ceremony.
Fast-forward to March 2019 and Christina confirmed she was pregnant, and they became parents
again in September 2019.
An Entertainment Tonight source alleged the speed of their romance was one of its biggest
downfalls.
"[Christina] went through a very painful, very public divorce and never took the alone
time to find herself, to rebuild her strength [...] before she was planning a wedding and
a baby shower."
Pretty much every parent can attest to the fact that bringing a baby into the world is
one of the biggest tests of a relationship — and it sounds like that was no different
for Christina and Ant.
Fans of the couple did a lot of speculating about what went wrong after the now former
couple went their separate ways, and sources were quick to dish on what apparently happened.
According to an insider who spoke to People, the two supposedly, quote, "started having
conflicts" after welcoming their son, Hudson, into the world in September 2019.
Christina was reported to have been feeling "lonely and unhappy" in her relationship with
Ant.
In a February 2017 interview with People, Christina admitted she went through something
similar after welcoming her second child with Tarek.
A second source shared a similar sentiment to E! News, saying:
"Bringing home the new baby was extremely difficult and challenging.
It's been a very difficult year with a lot of hard times."
The insider also said that Christina never planned to give up on things so quickly and
tried to make things work with Ant, but it reportedly became clear to her that their
relationship was over.
As they say, it takes two to tango, but was Ant more willing to fight for his marriage
than Christina was?
He definitely appeared to suggest that was the case after their split hit the headlines
in September 2020.
That month, the TV presenter shared a black and white photo of himself and Christina to
Instagram and referred to their separation as being, quote, "Christina's decision" in
the caption.
He also wrote:
"Anyone who really knows me knows that I don’t like to share private matters publicly.
I have remained silent while holding on to hope.
I never gave up on us."
Ant later opened up about the tough breakup in an interview with People, where he admitted:
"I think everybody knows this was not my decision.
It really hit me hard.
If you ask anybody that knows me properly, they know that I give myself fully.
I had so much love for her."
For her part, Christina seemed a little more eager to distance herself from the relationship
after things turned sour.
She officially filed for divorce two months after they announced their separation and
then changed her last name back to Haack on Instagram a few weeks after filing, while
also deleting photos from their time together.
Christina Haack has 1.7 million followers on Instagram as of September 2021 and hasn't
been afraid to share much of her life with them, as well as on reality TV through her
various shows, including "Flip or Flop" and "Christina on the Coast."
But it sounds like Ant Anstead may have preferred to keep things a little more on the down-low.
Christina often shares personal moments on her Instagram account, though Ant seemed to
struggle a little more with being so open.
In August 2020, he took a social media break after telling fans in an Instagram post that
he had blocked 100 people for leaving negative comments on his page.
"For all the good things social media has it also carries a toxic element!!
[...] Humans are lashing out.
And it saddens me!
[...] Be kind to each other and seeya soon."
Ant also attested to wanting to keep his personal life a little more private when he confirmed
his split from Christina on Instagram the following month.
It's hardly a secret that Christina Haack and Ant Anstead likely had different childhoods.
The former was born in the sunny climes of Anaheim, California, while Ant was born more
than 5,000 miles away in Plymouth, England.
While that's hardly a massive dealbreaker, a source claimed after their split that their
experiences growing up contributed to the demise of their marriage, telling Life & Style:
"They're very different people from totally different backgrounds, and that definitely
played a factor."
What could also have played a part was Ant still having a number of family members in
the U.K., including his two eldest children, Amelie and Archie, whom he shares with his
former wife, Louise.
Things can't have been easy for Ant towards the end of his marriage to Christina, as seeing
his two oldest children became even more difficult due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions
between the U.S. and the U.K. from March 2020 onwards.
Could Ant Anstead's relationship, or seemingly lack thereof, with Christina Haack's former
husband, Tarek El Moussa have affected their marriage?
Tarek and Ant haven't spoken a whole lot about one another over the years, and People reported
in January 2019 that the two didn't have much contact besides the usual pleasantries
The two are said to have only really interacted when they met one another at school events
for Christina and Tarek's kids, but that doesn't mean Tarek had anything bad to say about his
ex's ex, saying:
"Of course I ask my kids about things they do, and what's going on, and they always say
good things about [Ant].
So as a father, it's good to know that there's hopefully a good man in my kids' lives besides
me."
Christina seems to have a better relationship with Tarek's wife-to-be, "Selling Sunset"
star Heather Rae Young.
On Mother's Day 2021 the two even exchanged gushing social media tributes to one another
after exchanging bouquets of flowers.
"They're communicating schedules and sports and lunches and school, and you know they
just really honestly they do get along great."
Keeping a blended family together surely can't be easy, but if Christina and Heather's relationship
is any indication, maybe things will be okay with Christina and Ant while they co-parent
as well.
Christina Haack opened up about her new life in the wake of her second divorce in January
2021 on her Discovery+ show, "Christina: Stronger By Design."
She explained on the series that she had taken a year to, quote, "really dive deep into releasing
past traumas and getting to know me again and what makes me happy."
Could any of these traumas have affected her relationship with Ant Anstead?
Possibly.
Christina also shared that she'd been working with a "holistic doctor" and a "spiritual
coach" who had helped her focus on her health and her mental well-being.
She said:
"I actually feel like me again and like I'm fully present in each moment.
It's the best feeling."
Today, both she and Ant have moved on romantically with different partners.
Christina is now dating Joshua Hall, while Ant is getting serious with Renée Zellweger.
Yes, that Renée Zellweger.
Maybe this will be the one.
"Tell me, is it one in four marriages that end in divorce now, or one in three?
One in three?"
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