Let’s face it: Even when not by design, parents sometimes embarrass their children.
Christina Hall—who shares kids Taylor, 13, and Braydon, 8, with ex Tarek El Moussa as well as son Hudson, 4, with ex Ant Anstead—admitted her teenage daughter has already given her some guidelines ahead of her new show The Flip Off.
“They don't necessarily super care,” the HGTV star told E! News in an exclusive interview about her little ones’ reaction to the upcoming competition series that will see her and husband Josh Hall face off against her ex Tarek and his bride Heather Rae El Moussa, “but my daughter is just like, 'Mom, don't do any cringe videos. Do not dance. Please stop doing this.'"
The Flip Off—set to debut in early 2025—features the couples competing to see who can buy, renovate and flip a house for the biggest profit. And while the Christina on the Coast host says they’ve yet to all film together, she’s curious to see how everyone gets along (after all, there has been drama in the past).
“I think that there's a lot of big personalities here. I mean not think—I know there's a lot of personalities, there's a lot of dynamics," she continued. “So it's gonna be really interesting. I'm honestly a little bit nervous. But it should be fun.”
Christina and Heather teased the show by starring in a lighthearted Instagram video in May that played up their similar resemblances—with Tarek joking, “I guess it is confusing.” But when it comes to her daughter’s social media usage, the Christina in the Country celeb takes things more seriously.
“I really try to keep them off social media,” she shared. “I just really, truly never even wanted her to have it. We’re lucky we grew up in a different generation. There was less keeping up with the Joneses. That didn't really even exist. It’s just so many filters and everything. I just don't really feel like it's good for them.”
So, Christina makes sure she and Taylor have plenty of conversations offline.
“I just really, really try to keep the communication open and try to remember what it was like to be her age,” the 40-year-old added. “And just really have those deep talks and know that no matter what, I'm here for her and she can literally tell me anything without judgment.”
In fact, having mother-daughter heart-to-hearts is one of Christina’s favorite pastimes with Taylor.
“We have deep conversations a lot, especially before she goes to bed,” she said. “During summer, obviously our activities are different, but we love riding our e-bikes to the beach, we like going to water parks, getting our nails done, shopping. But for us, we really love to talk to each other.”
Family also plays a key role in this season’s premiere episode of Christina on the Coast, which shows Christina revisiting her childhood home.
“I got to renovate my parents' house, which is super fun—just like a fun, family dynamic—and I think viewers are really gonna love that episode,” she raved before dropping more hints about this season. “And then after that is just some really huge projects. I feel like normally in past seasons I've just done a couple rooms, but this season I get to tackle the whole house in a lot of projects, take it down to the studs, alter floor plans—just much bigger, bolder renovations.”
As fans wait for Christina on the Coast to premiere Thursday, July 11 at 9 p.m. on HGTV, keep reading to learn more about Christina and Tarek’s families.
- Reporting by Nikaline McCarley
Christina and Tarek welcomed their first child together on Sept. 22, 2010.
Following their divorce, the pair continued to co-parent their daughter, who Christina has described as an "old soul who one minute can talk super deep about life and then quickly go back to being a kid."
"Her greatest ability is being able to start a conversation with anyone, anywhere," she said of Taylor. "Fun, smart, athletic, HAPPY, and always keeping us on our toes."
Christina and Tarek welcomed their second child together on Aug. 20, 2015.
In addition to their oldest child Taylor, the two have continued to co-parent Brayden after their divorce. In the past, Tarek has described their son as "a ball of energy" and the "sweetest boy with the biggest heart."
"No words can describe how much brighter this boy makes my day," Tarek shared. "I feel blessed every single day to be his and Tay's dad and raising him and seeing him grow up makes me the happiest dad alive."
Almost a year after announcing her split from Tarek, Christina started dating Ant, a TV presenter from England, in October 2017. The two went public with their relationship in January 2018—the same month Christina's divorce from Tarek was finalized—and tied the knot in a winter-themed wedding at their home in Newport Beach, Calif., on Dec. 22, 2018.
Christina and Ant—who is dad to daughter Amelie and son Archie with his first wife Louise Storey—welcomed their first child together, son Hudson, in 2019.
The couple were married for less than two years before announcing their separation in September 2020. Their divorce was finalized nine months later.
Since the split, Ant has moved on with actress Renée Zellweger.
Christina and Ant welcomed their son on Sept. 6, 2019. At the time, the baby boy arrived weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces and measured at 19.5 inches long.
Though they agreed on shared legal and physical custody of Hudson when their divorce was finalized in June 2021, Ant filed for full custody in April 2022, claiming in court documents that his ex spends roughly "9 full days" with their child each month.
In response to the filing, Christina told E! News, "What Ant is doing deeply saddens me. If this was really about Hudson, as he says, this should have been handled privately with a private judge or mediation, as myself and my attorney have suggested. I have had my share of ups and downs but I am a good mom and I love my children with all my heart and I will always protect them."
Heather Rae Young, Tarek's Second Wife
Tarek met the Selling Sunset star on the Fourth of July in 2019, when they were partying on boats that had docked next to each other at a marina in Newport Beach, Calif. Later that month, the pair were spotted kissing on a yacht and Tarek confirmed to E! News they were dating that August, saying, "I never thought I'd say this word again, but this beautiful young lady, Heather Rae, is my girlfriend, officially."
The couple got engaged in July 2020 and became husband and wife on Oct. 23, 2021, exchanging vows during a romantic outdoor ceremony near Santa Barbara, Calif.
Heather has often referred to herself as the "bonus mom" of Tarek's two older children, Taylor and Brayden. "I already feel like I have two kids," she previously explained to E! News. "I'm raising Tarek's babies, and we have them 50 percent of the time. I am such a good bonus mommy. I adore those kids. I raise them like they're mine."
Tristan Jay El Moussa, Tarek and Heather's Son
Tarek and Heather welcomed their son on Jan. 31, 2023. At the time, the baby boy arrived weighing 7 pounds, 7 ounces.
He was named Tristan because "Tarek was supposed to be named Tristan," according to Heather, "and his parents ended up naming him Tarek."
His middle name is a nod to Heather's dad.
After calling it quits with her second husband Ant, Christina began dating Josh in 2021. The pair went public with their relationship that July, with Christina revealing that they had been together for "a few solid months."
According to the Flip or Flop star, she met Josh, a licensed realtor, that spring at a time in her life when she "wasn't in a state of fear or fight-or-flight" and had "taken time off social, hired a spiritual coach and smoked a Bufo toad" to "reset" her brain.
Christina and Josh got engaged that September and tied the knot on Oct. 6, 2021.
Their actual wedding date wasn't known until Josh filed for divorce on July 15, 2024, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Until the process of remodeling her childhood home unfolded on the July 11, 2024, episode of Christina on the Coast, she had kept her roots pretty private, mainly sharing glimpses of her parents as grandparents.
In 2019, she shared in an Instagram post that "we all sit together—my family and Tarek's family" when they watch Taylor perform at her school's annual Christmas concert.
"A couple people acknowledged how nice this is- I know there are a lot of divorced couples (including Tarek's mom and dad) who do this too and it's honestly easier for everyone," she wrote at the time. "Plus Taylor's face lights up when she sees us all in the same row supporting her."
Though Josh's relationship with Christina pushed him into the spotlight, his sisters found fame way back in the aughts.
Stacie—or "Stacie the Bartender" as some fans remember her—was famously the target of Spencer Pratt's flirtations on The Hills. She has also appeared on Vanderpump Rules, most notably on season three as one of the bridesmaids in Scheana Shay's bridesmaids.
As for Jessica, the former Playboy model also made appearances on The Hills, as well as The Girls Next Door, Kendra, Kendra on Top and Kendra Sells Hollywood in support her best friend Kendra Wilkinson.
The older sister of Tarek, Angelique is the owner of Latitude 33 Hair Artistry in Anaheim, Calif. She purchased one of Tarek and Christina's flipped homes on an episode of Flip or Flop in 2014 and later filmed a digital series with her HGTV host bro in 2019.
Tarek's mother Dominique is no longer with the Flipping 101 star's father, whose name he has never publicly shared. She is currently married to Robert, who describes the El Moussa matriarch as "the love of my life" on Instagram.
Tarek has never shared his father's name, though in a November 2017 Facebook post he announced that his "old man" had turned 70 years old.
"The relationship between a father and his children is so important. I was lucky enough to have a supportive and motivating father that made me believe I could accomplish anything in the world," he captioned a picture of the family's birthday celebrations for the patriarch. "I can say that I wouldn't be where I am today without the support of my dad. I will take all the lessons I've learned from him and pass it on to my children."
In an interview with Country Living, Tarek said his father was "raised Catholic in the Middle East in Lebanon and then Egypt" and met his mother, who is from Belgium, in Europe as a teen.