Christina Haack Opens Up About Josh Hall Marriage Collapse, Ex Tarek El Moussa Getting Him Off Show

Fans saw a tense moment between the couple and then an emotional conversation between Haack and her first husband -- and Flip Off co-star -- Tarek El Moussa in the premiere.

The show was going to have the exes battle it out alongside their new partners, Haack and Hall versus El Moussa and his wife Heather Rae in a renovation/house-flipping competition. In the end, it was the El Moussas against Haack working alone -- albeit with a rotating roster of guest helpers.

But in the most important way, she wasn't alone, because El Moussa had her back throughout the traumatic end of her marriage, and even helped to navigate how the show would ultimately transform.

In a new cover story with People, Haack breaks down all things fans didn't see behind the scenes of those two pivotal moments on camera, from the final blow-up with Hall that marked the end of their marriage to how El Moussa had Hall removed from the show so they could continue.

The beginning of the end came on July 4, 2024, when Haack said her kids asked if her husband could not join them on a family outing. Haack shares Taylor, 15, and Brayden, 10, with El Moussa, and Hudson, 6, with her second husband, Ant Anstead.

"That didn't go down well as you can imagine," she said of her kid's suggestion, referring to how Hall took it, "but we went and we had a great weekend." But Hall wasn't able to just let that go, with Haack saying that when they returned home, he "wasn't too happy" and they wound up in a pretty severe argument.

Haack hinted at this argument on The Flip Off premiere in January 2025 when she told El Moussa on camera, "We had a blow up" and mentioned "middle fingers in my face."

"I called Tarek, and I said, 'I'm worried right now. I feel uncomfortable,'" Haack revealed. "And he said, 'Leave.'"

Ultimately, Haack realized that she didn't want to do the show with Hall and, in fact, didn't want to be with him at all anymore. But with contracts signed and filming underway, she was overwhelmed and unsure how to proceed.

Haack said that El Moussa stepped up as she was reeling from the end of her relationship and made the show into what it became. "Tarek told our attorney and told the network for me that Josh would no longer be a part of the show," Haack shared.

Luckily, the network was "fine" with the decision -- Haack and El Moussa reconnecting was, of course, the draw, anyway. Haack added, "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.'"

That's what set up the intimate one-on-one that became so much more than just Haack telling El Moussa that Hall would be exiting the show. "For me, it was never really about Josh. It was more about me and Tarek and everything that's happened since then."

The scene that was supposed to be about Haack telling El Moussa that she and Hall had broken up became a session for the exes to open up emotionally about the end of their own marriage, and give one another "100%" forgiveness for their past transgressions.

"I think that scene lasted probably an hour and a half in reality and everyone was crying: the camera operators, the production crew. It was emotional," Haack shared. "Through the years we have obviously had talks, and we’ve apologized to each other, but not on camera and not like that."

"I don't think he expected me to go there," she continued. She said that eight years on from the end of their marriage, "we've taken ownership for our responsibilities."

As for her thoughts on El Moussa now, Haack calls him "a hard worker" and "a great dad." Emphasizing that they've known each other for two decades, the 42-year-old said, "He's come a long way in our relationship. Both of us have a lot of gratitude and both of us have a lot of respect for each other."

For his part, El Moussa owned up to his faults in his 2024 memoir Flip Your Life, admitting that he was drinking and going through testosterone withdrawal in the weeks after their marriage ended. "I hold nothing against Christina. I understand why she did what she did," he wrote. "We had a lot of hard years through my sicknesses and my mental health struggles."

Haack is also happily in a new relationship with Chris Larocca, but she'll continue flying solo on The Flip House Season 2, which just began filming. "I want to win it. And on my own," she said.