One scantily clad photo deserves another in the “Flip or Flop’ world, it seems.
Days after “Flip or Flop” star Christina El Moussa posted a mother-daughter bikini photo to social media, her co-star and estranged husband, Tarek El Moussa, has posted a shirtless photo to his Instagram account — a photo that he says he was “too embarrassed to share.”
The picture, which depicts a shirtless El Moussa working out with weights, is accompanied by an inspirational message.
El Moussa, who in the past was diagnosed with both thyroid and testicular cancer, wrote, “I shot this and was too embarrassed to share so I didn’t… I know my journey has inspired many people so I made the difficult decision to post… this is after battling 2 cancers and a debilitating back injury.”
The HGTV star continued, “My doctor said ‘You would probably never be able to lift weights again’… that motivated me to prove him wrong and get into the best shape of my life!!! Thank you to my trainer @quintin_tucker for all the hard work and motivation and @pyejirsa for the amazing photos.”
“Remember….it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog,” El Moussa concluded his post.
“Flip or Flop” has been an especially hot topic since the El Moussas announced the breakup of their marriage in December. The announcement of the split followed a May incident, during which law enforcement responded to a report of a “possibly suicidal male with a gun.” The call was made after Tarek retrieved a gun from the couple’s Orange County, Calif., home and wandered into 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.
“Flip or Flop,” which premiered in 2013, revolves around the El Moussas, real estate agents who buy distressed properties and renovate them.
In a statement to TheWrap following news of the split, HGTV said that the show “will continue production as scheduled.”
“We admire and appreciate Tarek and Christina’s great work on ‘Flip or Flop,’” HGTV said. “When it comes to matters related to their own family, we respect their privacy and honor any decision that works best for them and their children. HGTV is currently airing episodes of ‘Flip or Flop’ and the series will continue production as scheduled.”