Christina Haack Says Tarek El Moussa’s Mom Told Her Not to Marry Him

• During episode 2 of The Flip Off , Christina Haack reveals her ex-husband Tarek El Moussa’s mom once told her not to marry him
• The HGTV star shares the memory after asking Tarek’s mom, Angelique El Moussa, and her own mom, Laurie Haack, to be guest judges on the show
• Christina and Tarek were married for seven years before splitting in 2016, and later finalizing their divorce in 2018
• While their split was dramatic, the exes are now on good terms and have supported one another through hard times

Christina Haack is revealing a surprising new insight into her first marriage.

On Wednesday night’s new episode of The Flip Off on HGTV, the designer revealed that her first husband Tarek El Moussa‘s mother actually warned her away from marrying him.

“We have a very good relationship. She even told me not to marry him and to marry the dog. For real,” Christina tells her teammate Kylie Wing of Tarek’s mom, Angelique El Moussa.

“I have a long history with Tarek’s mom,” Christina shares in a separate confessional interview. “She’s traveled with me post-divorce of Tarek, me and the children. We talk on the phone. I definitely feel like I’m her favorite.”

Because of their tight bond, Christina calls on Angelique as well as her own mom, Laurie Haack, to be the surprise judges for the week’s makeover showdown.

Christina thinks her mom’s natural bias and Dominique’s favoritism toward her will lock in a win against Tarek and his new wife Heather Rae El Moussa.

“We have to win so I have a plan,” Christina tells Wing over the phone at the beginning of the episode. “I’m gonna bring in two judges. One is gonna be my mom and the other is gonna be Tarek’s mom.

When Wing questions if Tarek’s mom would choose her son, Christina replies, “She definitely won’t.” The competition ends up being judged blind so even if the moms wanted to play favorites, they’d have to guess whose room is whose based on the style.

“We sway the grandmas and we win this,” Christina schemes.

Christina shared a family photo from a ski trip she took with Tarek’s mom and their kids — Taylor, now 14, and Brayden, now 9 — in February 2021 — 5 years after the exes split. (Christina is also mom to son Hudson, 5, with ex Ant Anstead, and Tarek and Heather welcomed son Tristan, 2, in 2023.)

Alongside one snowy snap from the getaway, Christina gave Tarek a shout-out — and tagged Heather, then his fiancée. “Modern Family ❄️ thank you Tarek for letting me borrow your mama!” she captioned the photo.

Tarek and Christina split after 7 years of marriage in 2016, finalizing their divorce in 2018. They’re breakup involved a scary incident during which Tarek fled their home with a gun and Christina called 9-1-1. He would later enter a rehab facility.

In the years after their split, however, the exes continued to work together on their original HGTV show, Flip or Flop, until it ended in 2023, and in the last few years they’ve repaired their relationship and consider one another friends.

After Christina split from her third husband and one-time Flip Off teammate Josh Hall in July 2024, Tarek and Heather expressed their unwavering support for her.

“We’re here for anything she needs, honestly,” Tarek told Access Hollywood  on a red carpet in December 2024. “I know there’s a lot of stuff going on in the world between the co-parenting, but at the end of the day, we’re actually friends. We take care of each other, we’re really supportive.”