Tarek Gustave El Moussa (born August 21, 1981) is an American real estate investor and TV personality. He is best known for co-hosting

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. HGTV Dream Home is an ...

's ''

Flip or Flop ''Flip or Flop'' is an American television series that aired on HGTV, hosted by the formerly-married couple Tarek El Moussa and Christina Hall. The program was the original show in the ''Flip or Flop'' franchise, debuting in 2013. On November ...

'' alongside his then-wife Christina Haack. The pair found success flipping houses as an alternative to their previous business of selling real estate, which took a hit during the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

Early life

Tarek Gustave El Moussa was born on August 21, 1981, to a Lebanese father, whose family migrated to Egypt, and a Belgian mother, in Long Beach, California. In 2000, he graduated from

Sunny Hills High School Sunny Hills High School (SHHS) is a public high school located in Fullerton, California, United States. Established in 1959, it is part of the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. The campus, consisting mostly of single-story open plan b ...

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

. He has an older sister.

Career

ElMoussa got his real estate license in 2002, at the age of 21. He had a lucrative career selling real estate until the

, when the business he shared with his then-wife, Christina Haack, began to struggle. At that time, the couple had no choice but to give up their $6,000/month home to move to a $700/month apartment. The pair then ventured into a new real estate strategy - flipping houses. During their first flip, ElMoussa submitted an audition tape to

that followed the pair's process of flipping a house. The network picked up the show, which has seen a popular 10-season run, with season 10 premiering on

in December 2021. Despite the couple's divorce, they continued working together on ''

'', with Tarek saying to ''People'', "From the beginning, HGTV has shown Christina and me tremendous support and we are excited to go out there and flip many more houses for ''Flip or Flop''." In 2020, ElMoussa launched a second HGTV show, '' Flipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa'', in which he serves as a mentor to novice house-flippers. On December 2, 2022, he and his second wife Heather Rae shared a first look at their 2023 show ''The Flipping El Moussas'', which premiered on March 2, 2023.

Personal life

He married Christina Haack in May 2009. The couple met while working at a real estate office, later entering into business together. Their daughter was born on September 22, 2010. Their son was born on August 20, 2015. In 2013, Tarek was diagnosed with

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck, ...

. A ''Flip or Flop'' viewer, nurse Ryan Read, "noticed that at certain angles, at certain times, it just caught my eye that Tarek had a lump on his throat" and contacted producers. Tarek has been in remission since 2014. Tarek and Christina divorced in 2018. El Moussa started dating former

Playboy Playmate A Playmate is a female Model (person), model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biograph ...

and real estate agent Heather Rae Young in 2019. They married October 23, 2021, at the

Rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

Miramar Beach Hotel in Montecito. The wedding was the subject of the

Discovery+ Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discov ...

special ''Tarek and Heather: The Big I Do''. Tarek announced their son's birth on January 31, 2023, on Instagram.

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moussa, Tarek 1981 births American people of Lebanese descent American people of Belgian descent American real estate investors American television hosts American real estate brokers Living people 21st-century American businesspeople People from Long Beach, California Businesspeople from California