Tarek and Christina El Moussa’s split has been anything but amicable, despite the couple’s carefully crafted public statements, insiders say.
You can imagine that under the best of circumstances, divorcing publicly would be difficult. Under poorer circumstances, it’s a living hell.
Case in point? This alleged altercation on the Flip or Flop set …
Christina El Moussa has been hiding her pain for years while dealing with estranged husband Tarek El Moussa, according to Life & Style.
His ugly behavior and wild mood swings, which led to the incident after which Tarek and Christina split, may be a lot worse than we know:
The HGTV star allegedly threatened to rape Christina.
He intended it as a joke, says the witness quoted in the cover story (above), but it left those who heard it appalled for obvious reasons.
He told the mother of his two kids, “‘Shut up, woman, or I’ll rape you.’ He actually joked about raping Christina on more than one occasion.”
“Tarek thinks it’s funny,” the eyewitness lamented.
No one else was laughing about this, however.
The crew did its best to shield her from him, Life & Style claims, citing a discussion last spring that centered around filming … efficiently.
“[Staff members were] asked to be efficient with takes so that there was no downtime for Tarek and Christina on set,” a source recalls.
“When there’s downtime, bad things happen.”
Christina reportedly began to seek shelter from him in her car during filming breaks, but he was literally hard to ignore on or off set.
“One time, he went up to the car and pounded on the window,” the source shares of the couple, who have a son and daughter together.
“Christina locked the doors.”
How did it ever get to this point for the beloved HGTV tandem, whose beloved home renovation show became a network fan favorite?
Tarek’s low points were “a huge factor in their marriage falling apart … Christina hit a breaking point and couldn’t stand to be around him.”
“She fell out of love.”
In Touch reported last week that Tarek called her a “whore” on set, even going so far as to grab her chest and butt in front of the crew.
Regardless of whether that’s true, even reports from the set that are far less salacious don’t paint a pretty picture. Says another source:
“Tarek and Christina are still filming and flipping homes together despite their divorce, however they are simply not comfortable together.”
“The tension on set is high and the entire crew is walking on eggshells every time Tarek and Christina are on location together.”
“There is some bad blood and at this point there seems to be no chance of reconciliation,” our insider adds, in a truly massive understatement.
“Tarek and Christina are not in a good place and do everything they can to avoid each other. They spend as little time together as possible.”
They split in May, after a fight (witnessed by Christina’s current BF Gary Anderson) in which Tarek stormed out of the house with a gun.
No charges were filed and the couple managed to keep the police incident, and their separation, under wraps for half a year afterward.
Once TMZ broke the story, they chalked it up to a misunderstanding and sought to nix talk of the El Moussas flipping out … on each other.
But as Tarek files divorce papers and seeks spousal support, and filming rolls on with new episodes are in the pipeline, tension is high.
“Ultimately, the production timeline is dependent on construction schedules and final sales of the featured homes,” a network source says.
“We are currently in production for season seven of Flip or Flop, with the new episodes slated to air on HGTV this summer.”
“We admire and appreciate Tarek and Christina’s work on Flip or Flop,” a rep for HGTV said late last year in the wake of the news.
“When it comes to matters related to their family, we respect their privacy and honor any decision that works best for them and their children.”
How much longer it stays in production will likely depend on whether or not Tarek and Christina can stand being around each other.
In other words, don’t hold your breath for Season 8.
