Don’t count on Tarek El Moussa, 37, to get something from Christina El Moussa’s wedding registry. Tarek’s ex got married to Ant Anstead, 39, in a surprise ceremony on Dec. 22, and while Tarek is trying to put on a brave face, he’s reportedly not taking it too well. “Tarek is more upset than he’s letting on,” an insider tells Star magazine. “His friends are keeping a close watch on him lest he tries something stupid.”
“Tarek is a sensitive, often unstable guy, and he hasn’t had a steady girlfriend since the divorce,” the insider adds. “Seeing Christina move on so swiftly and playing happy family with Ant and the kids is like a knife to the heart for Tarek,” a family friend tells Star. “Even worse, Christina has changed her last name to Anstead. [Tarek] still loves her and always hoped they’d reconcile. That’s not going to happen now.”
“Tarek’s had a string of bad health luck lately,” the family friend said, noting how Tarek has battled cancer twice since 2013. “Now the fear is that this could push him over the edge. His friends are begging him to get back into therapy.”
A source close to the reality star also EXCLUSIVELY told HollywoodLife that “Tarek was devastated when he learned that Christina was getting married to Ant so soon after their divorce was finalized. Tarek never thought Christina would move on so quickly after their split, and seeing how happy she is absolutely breaks his heart. Tarek feels like Christina can be insensitive at times by posting so many pictures of her and Ant with their kids on social media and it can be really painful for him. Tarek was definitely holding onto the possibility of them working things out at some point, but now he realizes that will never happen.”
The Flip or Flop stars’ seven-year marriage came to an end in 2016, following a report where Christina called the police and Tarek headed into the woods behind their home with a gun. Despite the end of their marriage, the two seemed to maintain some semblance of a professional relationship, as they attended the 2017 Daytime Emmys together and reunited to film their HGTV show later that year. They finalized their divorce in January 2018. One year later, she was rocking a ring again, and supposedly, a new last name.
“I’ve said it before, at the end of the day,” Tarek told the TODAY show in the first interview after they finalized their split, “if mom and dad don’t get along and it affects the kids, mom and dad better get along. That’s all that matters,” he admitted. “Nothing else matters but the kids; not the TV show, not the business, nothing. The most important thing is the children.”