Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa had no problem clapping back at critics who took issue with a video Heather posted to Instagram.
Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae El Moussa are defending their blended family.
The couple had no problem clapping back at critics who took issue with a playful video Heather posted about their new HGTV series, The Flip Off, which also stars Tarek's ex-wife, Christina Hall, and her husband, Joshua Hall.
In an Instagram post shared earlier this week, Heather jokingly placed a garbage bag over Tarek before pretending to take out the trash, writing, "When your husband tells you we're filming a show with his ex-wife." She added, "Stepping into drama, while taking out the trash."
However, their lighthearted banter rubbed some fans the wrong way, with a few mentioning that Heather was being disrespectful to her husband.
The Selling Sunset alum swiftly fired back, "Take a break. Calm yourself. My husband is in on the joke. And don't forget I came from a world famous show myself on a network called Netflix and my husband and I are creating our new shows together."
Tarek also leapt to his wife's defense after another user claimed she is "not as famous anymore." The Flip or Flop alum clapped back, "Not as famous? Multiple global shows? Her own shows? Google delusional."
Addressing concerns that the skit was "very violent," Tarek clarified, "In this case it's a husband and a wife playing."
This wasn't the first time the 42-year-old reality star has poked fun at his family dynamics. In May, he starred in a spoof video joking about the similarities between 36-year-old Heather and his ex, Christina's, appearances.
Christina and Tarek share two children, daughter Taylor, 13, and son Brayden, 8, and Christina is also mom to her son, Hudson, 4, from her marriage to Ant Anstead. As for Heather and Tarek, they celebrated their son Tristan's first birthday, adding another joyful milestone to their blended family.
From a very public divorce and harrowing health struggles to a new marriage and welcoming his third child, Tarek has experienced a rollercoaster of life events in less than a decade. The Flip or Flop star's experiences are shared in his recent book, Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress - in Real Estate, Business, and Life.
"I've needed a lot of self-help, you know? Throughout my life, there's been a lot of struggles. People don't know what I've been through, and that's why this book is important," he told ET in February, running down the list of complications that cropped up in his life, including being diagnosed with ADHD, a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder, anxiety issues, sleep issues, substance abuse, thyroid cancer and testicular cancer.
He continued, "I was hooked on opioids for a year because of a back surgery. So those are a lot of problems that I faced in my life, and you know, today, I'm thriving, right? I'm happier, I'm healthier, I'm doing better than I ever have, so I was able to get here by just putting in the work and just taking it one step at a time. And there are so many people out there in a tough spot, and they can get out of it. They just need hope, right? Hope is the keyword, so I really feel like Flip Your Life gives people hope to start building a better future."
Tarek says that he wrote Flip Your Life to provide the book he needed when he was 20 years old. "When I was writing this book, I was thinking about 20-year-old Tarek like, what was the book I needed when I was at rock bottom? So I wrote the book that I would have needed."
Reflecting on that period of his life, Tarek recalled how he was "just drowning all day, every day, with stress, anxiety, worry, [wondering] what [will] the future look like. What am I gonna do? Where am I gonna go? Why am I gaining so much weight? Why can't I stop drinking? Why can't I sleep? Just all these anxieties that threw my life completely out of control."
"The day I graduated high school, I was thriving. I was in great shape. I was an athlete, and less than a year later, I completely destroyed my life," he shared. "I gained 60 pounds, my clothing wouldn't fit [and] I became a depressed alcoholic. I stopped hanging out with my friends. And I was really lucky to get out of it."
After residing in what Tarek calls a "halfway house" for several months after his split from Christina, he says he intended to work on his marriage. But in 2017, Christina moved on with Ant, whom she was married to from 2018 to 2021.
"[In] 2017, I was on my own, I was going through a divorce, I didn't have my family with me and that was not the life I dreamed of," Tarek told ET. "That is not the life I wanted. So, by accepting the fact that I had that life and I was not happy with that life, it gave me the drive to start rebuilding my life. And today, I'm married to Heather. [I] love her so much, right? I have Tristan, he's turning one already, I can't believe it. Today, I'm living the life that I wanted years ago, right? It didn't just happen. It took work."
Tarek married Heather Rae in October 2021.
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