Tarek El Moussa may have a body of steel.
But he’s unhappy these days with how his estranged wife continues to steal the spotlight from him.
The Flip or Flop co-host really has tried his hardest over these past couple weeks, matching Christina’s revealing Instagram photos with a set of his own, hoping that his surprisingly RIPPED body would win him an influx of fans.
Instead, Tarek has been forced to sit back and watch as Christina gains new Instagram followers everyday and gives one media interview after another.
She’s also been presented with a number of professional opportunities, such as a role on Dancing with the Stars.
As a result, a source tells In Touch Weekly that Tarek “seems stuck in neutral after” filing to divorce Christina in early January.
Yes, he’s still filming episodes of Flip or Flop for HGTV, but insiders believe the show will be canceled after Season 7, leaving Tarek with no employment prospects.
It doesn’t help that Christina appears to be making plans for a spinoff series or some kind of future venture of her own.
“He hates that Christina has been getting more publicity than him,” In Touch writes of Tarek “He still wants to outshine Christina in every way possible.”
This explains why Tarek has been more active on social media of late.
He took Internet users by extreme surprise last month when he shared photos of himself at the gym, lifting weight and flaunting his impressive muscles.
He then got a haircut and joked that he was suffering some kind of midlife crisis at the time.
“OH NO!!! New #clothing.. New #hairstyle…. #No more sandals!! Half #naked pics!!! Is this a mid life crisis??” El Moussa wrote as a caption to the following black-and-white picture of his fresh look.
According to this In Touch Weekly mole, the father of two has been attempting to “one-up” his estranged wife and reality TV co-star for months now.
But he’s fallen far behind Christina, who went on a PR blitz early on after her split from Tarek and who is a very good looking woman. (This often helps one gain a lot of fame and popularity on the Internet.)
As a result, Tarek would reportedly be open to a romantic reconciliation.
But not for romantic reasons.
“He’s tried to persuade Christina by saying it will be great for their business and open so many doors for huge payouts, but Christina is not buying it,” an insider says of getting back together.
“She knows she’s fine without him and doesn’t feel bad for Tarek because, as she’s told friends, he put her through hell.”
It’s true.
Or at least it’s rumored to be true.
Previous tabloid reports claimed that Tarek verbally abused Christina on set, even joking at times about raping her.
We know, right? YIKES!
The El Moussa separated last May and filed for divorce several months later.
“I feel like if we had better communication, we would have had a better relationship,” Tarek said during an episode of The Doctors a little while back, adding:
“I think as time went on, you get busier and busier. It was like overnight: businesses, TV, all these things happened overnight, then the cancer and the back surgery.”
“It just kind of started pushing us apart from each other.”
