A growing number of HGTV fans are fed up with the network seeming to favor reality television over actual decorating shows, but they may be in the minority—especially as it pertains to the network's new show, The Flip Off. Headed up by exes and former Flip or Flop hosts Tarek El Moussa and Christina Haack (along with El Moussa's current wife Heather Rae El Moussa), the show's renovate-and-flip premise isn't anything too new, but what has really piqued viewers' interest is the raw emotion shown by the stars. One fan even claims it's "the most real thing" they've ever seen.
RELATED: HGTV Fans Are Fed Up: "I Miss When They Actually Showed How to Decorate."
What is The Flip Off?
According to the official show page, the premise of The Flip Off is as follows: "Each team will each attempt to find, buy, renovate and flip a house for the biggest financial gain."
The six-episode series is a "battle" between the El Moussas and Haack. Originally, it was billed as a couple-versus-couple challenge, but Haack's split from her third husband, Josh Hall, plays out during the premiere.
"The competitors' skills and budget will be put to the test as they renovate the kitchen, main suite, living room, guest suite, extra bedroom and exterior of their chosen properties," continues the show page. "The team who comes out on top wins ultimate bragging rights—and a first-class vacation paid for by the loser." (That vacation being a first-class, five-night stay in Cabo.)
What's the story with the El Moussas?
Haack and El Moussa got married in 2009 after meeting while working at the same real estate office. They went on to have two children, but the couple split in 2016 after a much-publicized incident involving El Moussa allegedly leaving the house with a gun.
El Moussa later told People of the incident, "We had a lot of hard years through my sicknesses and my mental health struggles from the testosterone," referring to his treatments for thyroid cancer and testicular cancer.
Despite their separation, they starred together in Flip or Flop for 10 seasons from 2013 to 2022, with Haack lending her design sensibility and El Moussa handling the business side of things.
Haack remarried twice: first to English TV personality Ant Anstead in 2018 and then to Hall in 2021. El Moussa married former model and Selling Sunset star Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) in 2021; the couple has one child together.
Haack and El Moussa have remained on friendly terms, a fact that Hall supposedly disliked, as Haack revealed to ET.
RELATED: HGTV Viewers Blast "Absolutely Disgusting" Behavior on "House Hunters."
HGTV fans are reacting positively to The Flip Off.
HGTV fans are pleasantly surprised by how much they're enjoying The Flip Off.
The creator of a new Reddit thread about the show said, "Just enough drama and personal stuff and also the right amount of house flipping insight."
"I wasn't sure how they'd pull it off but with all the past relationship history it adds such a heated and dramatic atmosphere," they continued.
"i liked it a lot more than i expected to. i appreciated their vulnerability honestly," someone else noted, to which another viewer agreed: "I told my husband, this is the most real thing I've seen on HGTV."
"I actually really enjoyed it. There was a good balance between reality and actual design and I thought the judging was fair," yet another fan chimed in.
There's one scene that's taken the HGTV world by storm.
HGTV
The stars' vulnerability was on full display during a scene in which Haack told El Moussa about her breakup with Hall and also reflected on her and El Moussa's marriage.
"I know we’re in a good place now," Haack said. "But yeah, we went through a lot of stuff. I don’t think anyone understands just how much stuff we went through. We met when we were so young."
"When our stuff imploded, I felt like not only did I lose… we were best friends, but also I felt like I lost like, I need to be a full-time mom. And that really, really, really hurt me a lot and really affected me," she added.
El Moussa acknowledged that he may be "the entire part of all of this," but Haack also expressed remorse: "I did a lot of things too. I hold zero against you."
In speaking with People, Haack shared that none of this conversation was scripted or planned.
"When [Tarek] came over, I had been dealing with this in real-time for a week or two, and so I was just emotional, hadn't been sleeping," she told the magazine. "And so he walks in and then I just like, it all just came out."
"None of it was intentional, but I think it was definitely healing for both of us," she continued. "And I think some closure for viewers that have watched us since our mid-twenties and just seeing the real raw moment. It was very authentic and it wasn't planned."
And it's very clear that their vulnerability resonated with viewers.
"That was not acting and that was definitely two people that still care about each other a lot and very very emotional," said one Redditor.
"Her and tarek crying was absolutely real with their history and I was surprised he was talking about his surgery and problems with drugs which he admits was a big reason why they divorced in the first place," shared another.
"The conversation between Christina and Tarek discussing her break-up and their relationship, had tears streaming down my face, because I could tell it was a real heartfelt exchange," wrote yet another fan.
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