‘Flip or Flop’ Fans React to ‘Awkward’ Return of HGTV Series

“The show is dying right before our eyes,” one viewer of the reality series says

Flip or Flop
HGTV's 'Flip or Flop'

“Flip or Flop” returned with a new episode on Thursday night, and if fans were eagerly anticipating the sight of Tarek and El Moussa on their television screens again, the results left many of them feeling a little cringey, judging from the reactions on social media.

Fans of the show took to Twitter to share their thoughts, with a number of them registering discomfort — one viewer said that the episode made her “want to crawl in a hole.”

“Watching #FliporFlop & want to crawl in a hole because I can feel the ‘we’re-divorced-but-working-together’ tension through the tv. #hgtv,” tweeted the viewer.

Series stars Tarek and Christina El Moussa announced their split in December, with Tarek filing for divorce the following month, and many viewers felt that the estrangement was reflected in the episode.

“This #FliporFlop episode is super awkward lol,” wrote one fan.

“Please tell me that I am not the only one that sees the awkwardness between Tarek and Christina in the New Flip or Flop,” another wrote.

Yet another viewer suggested that Christina El Moussa was attempting to obscure the marital split, writing, “Why is Christina using her sweater to cover her left hand/ring finger… honey the jig is up.”

Another fan went so far as to opine that the HGTV reality series is “dying right before our eyes.”

“Did you see Tarek’s face when Christina said she might be the buyer of the house on #FliporFlop?” the fan asked.  “The show is dying right before our eyes.”

“I’ve been watching #FlipOrFlop real close like [magnifying glasses] waiting to see those wedding bands disappear. Finally happened,” another viewer observed.

“#FliporFlop is just not the same! Can we all say Awwwkward,” read one social-media lamentation.

Another fan expressed mixed feelings about the show’s return, writing, “So happy that the real #FliporFlop is back on air @hgtv. Just weird knowing Tarek and Christina is [sic] divorced. Bummer.”

“#FliporFlop is so weird now that they’re divorced. This like watching Divorce Court: House Flippers,” went another response, which included a GIF bearing the message, “Awkward alert.”

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