Christina Haack says she enlisted an unlikely person to help get her third ex-husband, Josh Hall, kicked off the show they were filming for HGTV: her first ex-husband Tarek El Moussa.
In a new interview with People, Christina— who recently settled her divorce with Josh— spoke about how Tarek stepped up to help her get Josh booted from The Flip Off, a show Josh and Christina had just started filming with Tarek and his wife Heather. After a nasty fight in July 2024 ended her marriage to Josh, Christina said she called Tarek and told him she was “worried” and “uncomfortable” being around Josh. Tarek instructed her to “leave.”
Christina said Tarek then took matters into his own hands to get Josh cut from the show, which had just started filming its first season.
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“Tarek told our attorney and told the network for me that Josh would no longer be a part of the show,” she told the magazine. “They said ‘No problem. That’s fine.’ They just said, ‘We need Christina to have a scene where she tells you, Tarek, that Josh is no longer going to be a part of the show.’”
(Fans saw that emotional conversation go down between Tarek and Christina during an episode of ‘The Flip Off’ that aired in January.)
Christina told People that she was relieved when Tarek took the steps to get Josh kicked off ‘The Flip Off’ because (despite all the corny promos the foursome filmed for the show’s premiere) she was dreading doing the show with Josh.
“In all honesty, I didn’t want to film the show with Josh,” she said. “The network knew I didn’t want to. I had even told Tarek I didn’t want to. And he had joked and said— well, I don’t know if he was joking— but said, ‘Whatever. You guys are just going to split up in Episode 2 and then the show will go on and everything will be fine.
“[Josh and I] hadn’t been getting along in a long time,” Christina continued. “And I’m not talking about weeks. I’m talking years.”
“There’s a lot of red flags that I ignored, and that could be a whole memoir that I don’t need to get into,” she continued. “But, we were not getting along and there’s a lot of insecurity on his side. He made filming very uncomfortable for me, very hard. It was not fun.
“I think the filming made things worse and [sped] things up that already were going really bad,” Christina added.
Christina stated that ‘The Flip Off’ is much better now that it’s Josh-free.
“The show would have been horrible if he had stayed on,” Christina said. “It would have been awkward; there wouldn’t have been any funny moments. There wouldn’t have been any of those real scenes. I feel like I would have had to dim my personality, or I would get home and he would ignore me for three days.”
Christina pointed out that fans were tuning into the show to see her, not Josh.
“I couldn’t be myself, and that’s a really strange feeling to have. Especially when you’ve been on TV for 15 years, and it’s your show, and you’re the reason people are watching on your side, and you’re not allowed to be yourself,” she said. “It’s a strange lesson to learn, especially as a 40-year-old woman.”
Josh and Christina’s divorce was messy (and very public), but both quickly moved on to date other people. Christina has been dating Chris Larocca since last year, while Josh is currently in a relationship with Stephanie Gabrys.
Josh and Christina (finally) settled their divorce in August.
Josh hasn’t directly responded to the claims Christina makes in her new People cover story. However, he did post a telling quote and song to Instagram after the interview was released earlier this week. Set to Chuck Brodsky‘s song “Liar Liar, Pants on Fire,” Josh posted the quote, “Never argue with liars. You can’t win, because they believe their own lies.’
The second season of ‘The Flip Off’ is currently in production.
RELATED STORY: Josh Hall Claims Ex Christina Haack Needs “Constant Public Validation” After Their Divorce is Finalized; Details of Their Settlement
(Photos: HGTV; Instagram)
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