Ever since "Selling Sunset" star Heather Rae Young linked up with "Flip or Flop's" Tarek El
Moussa in 2019, fans have been wondering what's up with Heather and Tarek's ex, Christina Haack.
Are they friends? Mortal enemies? Here's a closer look at the unusual
relationship between the two women in Tarek's life; Heather and Christina.
Things between Christina and Heather got off to a bit of a bumpy start. When Heather and
Tarek started dating, the new couple tried to keep their budding romance to themselves.
But the press quickly spotted them together and that so-called secret was forced out of the bag.
That's par for the course with celebrities, but things got a little awkward since Christina had
no idea that her ex-husband was seeing someone new. Tarek hadn't said a word about his new crush
to Christina, so she learned of the relationship like the rest of us did - straight from the press.
"So I'm like, 'Ok well, cat's out of the bag.'
Um, so, should I tell my ex wife, do I not, do I let TMZ tell her, like who do I let tell her?"
In fairness to the new couple, their relationship was just beginning, so it's understandable that
Heather and Tarek would want to keep things low key. Apparently, Tarek had been thinking about
letting Christina know that he was dating someone, but as he revealed on "Strahan, Sara and Keke,"
"The world just let everybody know that we were together."
Still, it appears that the relationship shockers go both ways. In July of 2021, once Christina's
divorce from Ant Anstead was final, she went public with a new man, realtor Josh Hall,
on Instagram. And according to People, Tarek knew nothing about it until everyone else did, too.
Once Tarek and Heather were official, fans couldn't help but notice that Heather and
Christina had a lot in common. The two women are both reality stars and involved
in real estate… but it was clearly about more than their professions.
Heather bears a certain physical similarity to Christina. They're both slim, blond,
and beautiful, which caused even more buzz in the tabloids.
Some even accused Heather of deliberately trying to look like her boyfriend's ex, but the "Selling
Sunset" star shut down this notion immediately. In her Instagram Story, Heather clapped back,
"Last time I checked I've looked like this my whole life. […] Yes that's my
ultimate goal [and] I even rushed to a doctor to change my whole appearance!!!
Come on guys. […] Let's stop being ridiculous."
While Christina may have been initially thrown a
curveball, she at least got a heads-up when things between Tarek and Heather
started getting serious. As Heather explained to E! News, she was mindful of the fact that
being with Tarek meant that she would also be spending a lot of time with his and Christina's kids.
And because of that, she wanted to reach out to her boyfriend's ex to ask her for some advice.
Heather says that she was the first person Tarek seriously dated
and introduced to his kids following his divorce from Christina. She explained,
"I really think about, how would she feel as their mother, and a new girl is living with the kids?
[…] It's only natural for me as a woman to want to reach out to her as their mom and be
like 'Hey, I'm with your kids. […] I'm new at this. Like, I don't know what I'm doing.'"
Despite all the obvious challenges that come with blending a family,
Christina and Heather get along well. As Tarek shared on "Strahan, Sara, and Keke,"
"[They] both eat that healthy, hippie food,
[drink] that weird juice [and] do that weird hiking stuff."
"I'll do like carrot pasta with a veggie burger, avocado, vegan cheese."
It might be weird to Tarek, but for Christina and Heather,
their healthy lifestyles are a perfect reason to be friends - or at least text buddies.
Christina told Us Weekly that their shared views on wellness helped bring them closer
during Spring of 2020, when they began to text each other recipes for food and drinks.
While their food tastes may not match up perfectly - Heather is a vegan while Christina is not - they
do have a similar taste in other things. Like cocktails. Christina shared with the outlet,
"We'll share, like, margarita recipes with each other,
like a skinny watermelon, so yeah, it's nice. We all get along."
Forget the evil stepmother trope. Heather may not officially be a stepmom yet,
but she's certainly got the role down pat. And the "Selling Sunset" star is fully committed
to being there for Tarek and Christina's kids. And as she explained in an Instagram post, she
and Tarek decided on their second date that what they had was the real deal, and, as Heather added,
"That meant [I was] committing to his babies 100 percent. […] It just felt right."
Heather then threw herself into being the best "bonus mom" to Tarek's two kids.
While she shared her hope of becoming an official stepmom one day,
she told Entertainment Tonight in May 2020 that she was in no rush for Tarek to propose. She said,
"He's my best friend in the whole world and I'm just really enjoying what we have right now."
Still, just two months later, the "Flip or Flop" star put a big ole 8-carat diamond ring
on it - as part of a romantic, sunset proposal on the beaches of Catalina Island. When E! News
asked if Christina had sent her congratulations to the newly engaged couple, the star replied,
"Of course! […] And I couldn't be happier for them. They're very happy."
"My cheeks hurt. I can't stop smiling."
It's obvious that Tarek also recognizes Heather's natural talents in being a great stepmom.
And in an Instagram post, he gushed about how she has forged a loving connection with his children.
Apparently, she has a particularly close relationship with Tarek's daughter, Taylor.
According to Life & Style, they were quick to form a tight bond.
Christina and Tarek have a beautiful blended family that consists not just
of their kids and their significant others but also Christina's son,
Hudson, whom she has with her ex-husband, Ant Anstead. The whole family gets along pretty well,
which makes sense considering Christina and Tarek are serious about co-parenting their kids
in a positive environment. Christina told Entertainment Tonight in 2019,
"The goal is for the kids to feel happy and settled and that's what we want."
"We just fit so well together. There was never like that
period where they had to get used to me."
And the life of a blended family means that Heather and Christina are often thrown together
for holidays, birthdays and other events, but they both seem totally on board with this. In fact,
they're happy to spend time together. In October 2019,
the whole family - including Christina's parents - even went trick-or-treating together.
No matter where life takes them, it appears that Tarek and Christina are determined
to make things easy on their little ones, and Heather seems equally committed to the kids.
Some people might be a little nervous about their significant other working long hours
with their ex. And we wouldn't blame Heather if she wasn't completely on board with Tarek
continuing to collaborate with Christina on "Flip or Flop." But when it comes down to it,
Heather has no problem with the situation. As she told Radar Online,
she has every confidence in her relationship with Tarek, adding,
"I'm fully supportive of everything."
"We've been doing this a really long time. It's part of who we are and what we do.
And for us to just throw everything away, it just wasn't worth it."
Heather also revealed that Tarek had first asked her out months before they got together.
The first time he reached out to her, she was in a relationship. When he asked her out a second time,
though, she was single and ready to mingle. Between Tarek being so smitten and the fact that
these two reality stars work so well together, it feels like fate really did match them up.
Ever since Heather and Tarek's engagement, Heather and Christina seem to have grown closer than ever.
Heather has continued to throw herself into the role of "bonus mom" to Taylor and Brayden,
and the three celebs appear to have their co-parenting system totally worked out. While
raising kids between separate households can be tough on even the strongest of former couples,
the families have a pretty smooth arrangement that cuts down on drama and tension.
The key? Rock solid communication. Heather explained to Us Weekly,
"We communicate daily about the kids, and they're the most important
thing in the world to all of us. So, as long as the kids are happy, we're all happy. […] I'm
raising them at our house. They respect me as their bonus mom. […] I love them so much."
But while she's clearly crushing her role in helping to raise the kids,
Heather also honors the mother who brought them into the world. She even sent Christina
flowers for Mother's Day in 2020, and then another bouquet the following year, with a note that read:
"Happy Mother's Day to the best mom ever! We love you so much!"
Christina reciprocated the love with a floral arrangement of her own. While she
didn't necessarily call her "the best mom ever," Heather clearly appreciated the gesture, posting,
"Thank you [Christina]. Happy Mother's Day."
Christina and Heather have clearly forged a solid relationship. And it's very much one that is built
on mutual respect and co-parenting. But while the two women have become friends by circumstance,
that doesn't mean they're now besties - and that Christina will be joining
Heather's bridal party. In fact, Christina won't be present on the big day at all.
But as it turns out, she isn't being omitted from the guest list because of any bad blood.
As Tarek explained to Entertainment Tonight, he just doesn't want to make the day into anything
other than a flawless celebration. And when it comes to his and Heather's invitations, he added,
"No exes at the wedding."
For their upcoming ceremony, he says the couple is looking forward to an intimate
ceremony with guests from within their close circle of loved ones. Heather added,
"[It will be] intimate, with our best friends and family.
We're gonna have to be strict with our list."
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