‘Flip or Flop’ Divorce Moves Closer to Reality as Christina El Moussa Responds to Tarek’s Petition

HGTV stars announced their split late last year, but continue to work together

Flip Or Flop Tarek El Moussa Christina El Moussa
HGTV

Sorry, “Flip or Flop” fans who might have been holding out hope that series stars Christina and Tarek El Moussa might reconcile.

The divorce between the HGTV stars has taken another step forward, with Christina El Moussa responding to the divorce petition that Tarek filed in January.

In the papers, filed in Orange County Superior Court on Aug. 4, Christina El Moussa seeks joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s children, daughter Taylor, six, and one-year-old son Brayden.

She’s also seeking spousal support, and asking that the court’s ability to award support to Tarek be terminated.

The papers list the couple’s date of separation as May 23, 2016.

As for the reason for the split, EL Moussa listed the ever-popular “irreconcilable differences.”

The El Moussas announced their breakup in December, but had broken up months earlier, following a May 2016 incident involving Tarek El Moussa and a gun. Tarek filed for divorce in January, though the couple continues to film the series together.

In their December statement to People, the El Moussas acknowledged that they had split after seven years of marriage.

“Like many couples, we have had challenges in our marriage,” the couple said. “We had an unfortunate misunderstanding about six months ago and the police were called to our house in an abundance of caution. There was no violence and no charges were filed.”

According to the couple, they broke up following a May incident during which law enforcement responded to a call of a “possibly suicidal male with a gun.” The call was made after Tarek retrieved a gun from a safe in the couple’s Orange County, California, home and wandered into nearby Chino Hills State Park.

Tarek told deputies that he headed to the park to “blow off some steam,” and that he brought the gun with him as protection against mountain lions and rattlesnakes.

Tarek El Moussa filed for divorce in January, though the couple continues to work together, both on “Flip or Flop” and other projects, such as the recently aired HGTV pilot “Chi-Town Flip,” for which the El Moussas served as executive producers.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

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