Inside Christina Hall's 3 Divorces
Reality TV stars Christina and Tarek El Moussa seemed to be living the American Dream – until a nature hike gone wrong ended with one of them in handcuffs, with a divorce on the way.
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00:00Reality TV stars Christina and Tarek El Moussa seemed to be living the American dream,
00:05until a nature hike gone wrong ended with one of them in handcuffs, with a divorce on the way.
00:11Christina Haack began dating future ex-husband and fellow real estate agent Tarek El Moussa
00:16back in 2006, tying the knot three years later. After the 2008 financial crisis,
00:21the couple began cashing in on their skills at renovating rundown houses that they sold
00:26Their house-flipping efforts captured the attention of TV producers,
00:29and the couple was tapped to star in their own show titled Flip or Flop.
00:33Premiering in 2013, ratings for Flip or Flop were through the roof,
00:37leading Christina and her husband to become HGTV's hottest new stars.
00:40While the show's popularity grew, so too did the pressure on their marriage,
00:44widening cracks that had already started to form. In a 2017 interview with People, Christina said,
00:50Like any couple, we had our fair share of issues,
00:52but we went through a lot in a short amount of time.
00:55Following the birth of their daughter Taylor in 2010, Christina and Tarek El Moussa encountered
01:00infertility issues while trying to have a second child. In the midst of that,
01:04Tarek was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. While he was treated with radiation,
01:08Christina struggled to keep it together. She told People,
01:11I had never even known anyone with cancer, so it was a very scary time.
01:15The doctor came out, I could just tell by his face, and he said,
01:17it's cancer, and it spread to his lymph nodes. And I literally just fell on the floor crying."
01:22At the same time, she was undergoing IVF treatment, which resulted in a 2014 pregnancy
01:27that sadly ended in a miscarriage. In 2015, they welcomed their son Brayden. Their busy
01:33schedules, however, demanded that Christina return to work just four weeks after giving birth.
01:38She said,
01:38It was too soon for me. I was overwhelmed. The tension between me and Tarek was high.
01:43We weren't able to properly communicate anymore. It got to the point where we
01:47weren't even driving to set together."
01:49The tensions that had been building up within the marriage of Christina and Tarek El Moussa
01:53came to a head in May 2016, in a police incident involving a gun. Several months later,
01:58the couple announced their separation in a joint statement to People,
02:02Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage. We had an unfortunate
02:06misunderstanding about six months ago, and the police were called to our house in an
02:10abundance of caution. There was no violence and no charges were filed. Tarek offered more
02:14insight into the incident in his 2024 book, Flip Your Life, How to Find Opportunity in Distress,
02:20In Real Estate, Business, and Life. According to him, after an argument with Christina,
02:24he decided he needed to clear his head by going for a hike, and brought a handgun with him in
02:28case he encountered any dangerous wildlife. He didn't realize Christina had called 911
02:33until he was taken into custody by police and placed in handcuffs. He wrote,
02:37For the next several hours, I sat on a cooler on my driveway, handcuffed. That was the very last
02:42time we were together as a family, with Christina walking down the driveway, crying, and me sitting
02:47there in handcuffs, asking myself, what in the world is going on? Soon after announcing that he
02:52and his wife Christina had separated, Tarek El Moussa filed for divorce. In their joint statement,
02:57the two indicated that while their marriage may be over, their co-parenting and business
03:01partnership was not. That became evident when Christina and Tarek continued to soldier on for
03:05HGTV, working together on new episodes of Flip or Flop. During a joint appearance on The Today
03:11Show, El Moussa said,
03:12It's part of who we are and what we do, and for us to just throw everything away,
03:16it just wasn't worth it."
03:17The tension between the two was palpable during the interview,
03:20and it was clear the two weren't entirely comfortable working together.
03:24I never know what we're gonna get with her. One day she's great, one day she's like crazy.
03:27He's literally talking about himself right now.
03:29Oh, excuse me! See how she tries to manipulate me?
03:32Years later, Christina admitted to Us Weekly that their relationship at the time
03:36was far thornier than they had let on in that 2018 interview.
03:39There were hard, tense days, but it wasn't a reality show based on a marriage. It was still
03:44about the houses, so that made it easier. We had to show up, do our jobs, and then went home and
03:49didn't have to talk to each other. After splitting up with Tarek El Moussa, Christina began dating
03:54businessman Doug Spedding. That relationship, however, didn't last long, with Christina
03:58calling it quits in October 2017 after being hit with a double whammy when she discovered he had
04:03cheated on her and had also started using drugs again. A source told InTouch Weekly,
04:08"[Christina encouraged him to go back to rehab.] Christina is the type of person who sees the
04:12best side of others, and that's how she was with Doug. She just wanted to help him."
04:16In January 2018, Christina and Tarek's divorce was finalized. Around that same time,
04:21she revealed she was in a relationship with British television host Ant Anstead.
04:25They had reportedly been dating since the previous November, around the same time she
04:29ended things with Spedding. Christina posted about the new relationship on Instagram, gushing,
04:34and suddenly, you know, it's time to start something new and trust the magic of a new
04:38beginning. New year, new beginnings. 2018 is going to be a great year filled with new experiences,
04:44challenges, and blessings. Excited for the next chapter!
04:47It was just love at first sight."
04:49The romance between Christina and Ant Anstead took off like a rocket. After a whirlwind courtship,
04:54the pair tied the knot at the end of 2018 in a covert wedding ceremony they managed to keep
04:58under wraps. She told People,
05:00"[We pulled off the perfect surprise wedding. Seeing the happy tears of friends and family
05:04was priceless."
05:05A few months after the wedding, Christina shared a since-deleted Instagram post,
05:09revealing that she and Anstead were expecting a baby together. Right on schedule,
05:13the couple's son arrived in September 2019. Anstead posted on Instagram in another since-deleted post,
05:19Welcome to the world! Hudson London Anstead, I am in awe.
05:22Mommy and baby are simply perfect."
05:24Ex-husband Tarek El Moussa told TMZ Live,
05:27"...I'm excited for her new chapter in life. And they're a great couple,
05:30and I really do hope the best for them."
05:32Less than two years after the couple's nuptials,
05:35the relationship between Christina and Ant Anstead unraveled. In November 2020,
05:39she issued a social media post to reveal that they were splitting up.
05:42"...Ant and I have made the difficult decision to separate. We are grateful for each other,
05:46and as always, our children will remain our priority. We appreciate your support
05:51and ask for privacy for us and our family as we navigate the future."
05:54Ant later shared his own comments about the dissolution of the marriage when he
05:58took to Instagram to say that it was Christina, not him, who decided to call it quits. He wrote,
06:03"...anyone who really knows me knows that I don't like to share private matters publicly.
06:07I have remained silent while holding on to hope. I never gave up on us.
06:11I pray Christina's decision brings her happiness."
06:13Ant admitted to People that he was devastated by his ex's abrupt decision to end their
06:18relationship. "...It really hit me hard. The impact on me, my sleep, my diet, my stress,
06:23it showed."
06:24He eventually moved on in spectacular style when he embarked on a relationship
06:28with movie star Renée Zellweger. While her first marriage ended relatively amicably,
06:33that was not the case with Christina's second divorce. That became clear from
06:36the contentious legal battle that erupted over custody of their son Hudson.
06:40That conflict took a messy turn when Antsted filed legal documents expressing his concerns
06:45about Hudson being exploited due to plans for him to appear in his ex's HGTV series,
06:50Christina on the Coast. In the documents, he wrote,
06:52"...the risks for a child working on a television production set,
06:55even if that set is Christina's home, are innumerable and well-documented.
06:59It is my goal to ensure that Hudson is allowed a childhood that is joyful,
07:03healthy, and natural, with as few stresses as possible, and this should be prioritized
07:07above creating commercial opportunity and content."
07:10The divorce was finalized in 2021. In late 2022, people reported that the exes had settled their
07:16dispute, agreeing to joint custody of Hudson. A year later, Christina expressed in an Instagram
07:21post that their fight over custody shouldn't have taken place.
07:24"...Last Mother's Day, I was in a very bad place,
07:26going through an extremely unnecessary custody battle."
07:30In the midst of finalizing her divorce with Aunt Antsted, a new man entered Christina's life,
07:35realtor Joshua Hall. An insider told Us Weekly that Hawk and Hall first met a few
07:39years earlier at a real estate conference, while she was still married to Antsted.
07:43In the spring of 2021, the two wound up reconnecting, and sparks flew. That July,
07:48she took to Instagram to confirm she was in a new relationship with Hall,
07:52and had waited to announce it for privacy reasons.
07:54"...I met Josh when I wasn't in a state of fear or fight or flight. I felt immediately
07:58crazy protective over him and wanted to keep him for myself and get to know each
08:02other before the tornado media attention hit. We've had a few solid months of just
08:06us getting to know each other, and I've loved every second of it."
08:09In September 2021, the HGTV star announced that Hall had popped the question, and she said yes.
08:15The following January, she addressed online criticism that the relationship was moving
08:19too quickly when she wrote on Instagram,
08:21"...too fast, too soon, too blah blah blah. That feeling of pure bliss
08:25slash those deep convos, love is what it is."
08:28Christina and Joshua Hall tied the knot after being together for just over a year,
08:32with the couple sharing photos in September 2022 from the couple's destination wedding
08:37in Hawaii. Josh wrote on Instagram,
08:39"...a week ago, I married the best friend I could ask for, just the way we wanted,
08:43our way, and with some of the closest people to us. A week later,
08:46I can't help but feel grateful for all that made the trip out and made us feel the love."
08:50While some fans felt the marriage had happened too quickly,
08:53it turned out that the couple had gotten married even earlier than they let on.
08:57According to court documents that were subsequently obtained by People,
09:00the pair had actually married in April 2022, but had kept it under wraps until September.
09:06In July 2024, Christina Hall spoke with E! News, sharing her hopes for the coming year.
09:11She said,
09:11"...I need things to be more peaceful and calm and just want to be more present and,
09:15overall, less chaos, less drama."
09:17That cryptic cry for peace made a lot more sense when just, days later,
09:21TMZ reported that her husband, Josh Hall, had filed for divorce.
09:25Court documents indicated the date of their separation was July 8,
09:282024, days before E! News published its interview.
09:32"...I am not a romantic, by any means."
09:34The announcement of their split was particularly inconvenient for HGTV,
09:38given that the exes had signed on to star in a new series called The Flip-Off. The premise
09:42was provocative, with the Halls facing off in a house-flipping battle against her ex-husband,
09:46Tarek El Moussa, and his second wife, Heather Rae El Moussa.
09:50TMZ also reported that in his divorce filing, Josh was seeking spousal support from Christina,
09:55and also asked that a judge grant him the rights to any television projects in which
09:59he appeared with his spouse. People subsequently confirmed from sources that HGTV was moving
10:04forward with the series, but without Josh.
10:07Going through three divorces within less than a decade was clearly not something that Christina
10:11Hall had intended. In fact, a source told Life & Style that she and Joshua Hall had struggled
10:16mightily to rescue their relationship as it crumbled, but just couldn't fix what had become
10:20broken.
10:21"[Christina and Joshua just weren't on the same page anymore. She really tried to make this
10:25marriage work, but it wasn't happening."
10:27While the nature of those efforts to save the relationship weren't made clear at the time,
10:31Christina was reportedly keenly aware of the optics of having yet another marriage implode
10:36under the harsh glare of the media spotlight. The source said,
10:39"...the last thing she wanted was to be divorced for the third time.
10:42That was never on her vision board."
10:44Those hopes that love would conquer all were apparently behind her decision to marry Joshua
10:48without a prenuptial agreement, a factor that could cost her some big money in the long run.