Reportedly, Tarek El Moussa is dating a lingerie model. But right now, he’s focused on talking about his show and his family and his former marriage.
And he points the finger at one factor that he believes causes problems for him now and may have even led to his divorce:
Fake news.
In December of 2016, Tarek and Christina El Moussa announced their split.
This was crushing news for fans of the couple and of their series, Flip or Flop.
The context for their split, however, was positively alarming.
The two of them separated after an insane gun incident in which Tarek stormed off into the woods after the couple got into an argument.
At the time, there was a genuine fear that Tarek might harm himself. Fearing the unthinkable, Christina called the police.
Tarek would later say that he brought the gun with him to fend of wild animals if need be, but it was a frightening incident and, afterwards, they decided that it would be best for themselves and their children if they parted ways.
Speaking to Fox News, Tarek El Moussa blames “fake news” for his marital troubles. Not entirely, but … you’ll see.
He starts off by speaking about divorce in general.
“Like any couple that’s getting divorced it’s very, very difficult obviously.”
There are easy, amicable divorces in this world, but they’re rare. A divorce that both partners enjoy is usually the result of a loveless-from-the-start marriage where the two either have so much or so little money that they refuse to fight over it.
He acknowledges that divorce is hardly unique.
“Half of the nation is divorced [but] because of who were are, being on TV, and people knowing who we are, it was a very public divorce.”
Clearly, that’s beyond the scope of most people’s divorce experiences.
And he emphasizes that fans are still consuming updates on how things are going.
“And it’s still a very public divorce.”
Clearly — he’s talking about it, and we’re all listening.
After setting up the context, he goes on to say that his experience is worse since he’s famous.
“So I would say it has been a lot more difficult than it would have been if it was private.”
You have to worry about what people will think or what they might be saying, every step of the way. Then there are the concerns that your career might get derailed.
“Obviously, if you’re on TV, you’re in the public so our private life is completely open.”
More or less, sure.
“Everybody knows everything about us.”
He then says that it was “very frustrating” to hear a lot of what he refers to as “fake news” about himself and his marriage.
And that goes for his divorce and or his personal life.
“Fake News” is one of those buzzwords that’s been jumbled from its original usage.
When it first rose to prominence in 2016, it referred to news stories that were deliberately fabricated by those reporting it — stuff about Illuminati-style conspiracies.
But then, like a babbling toddler repeating words he’d just heard, Donald Trump used the word to describe legitimate news reporting that he just doesn’t happen to like. That opened up floodgates and has continued to have global consequences.
In the case of celebrities like the El Moussas, however, there is sometimes genuinely fake news.
That should not be confused with gossip stories that discuss rumors, however. Just saying.
Tarek goes on to acknowledge that, despite the pitfalls of fame, the public’s awareness of their lives contributes to Flip or Flop‘s success.
“Today, there’s like a hundred house flipping shows and I truly believe what makes our show successful is our dynamic as investors and as a family.”
Absolutely.
“When we first came on the air we were really young. We were a young couple that had everything we had on the line.”
And he thinks that this translated through the screen.
“I think… people were able to read that through the screen and they’ve watched us grow as a family. They’ve seen us have children and raise our children and move houses.”
It arguably helped change the landscape of this type of show.
“And it’s just been kind of not only a TV show about flipping houses, it’s been a TV show about our lives as well.”
