Flip or Flop star Tarek El Moussa has revealed that finding love again is the furthest thing from his mind as he's in the middle of his divorce from estranged wife and co-star Christina El Moussa.
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After Tarek, 35, and Christina, 33, publicly announced their split after seven years of marriage in December 2016, rumors began to swirl of Tarek dating his two children's nanny, Alyssa Logan, and Christina engaging in a romance with the family's former contractor Gary Anderson, and both situations turned out to be true.
"I did date her for a month. I was going through a tough time, and she's amazing. I never held hands with her around the kids, though," Tarek told Us Weekly of Logan.
"Now I'm not dating anyone specifically. It will be a long time before I'm in a relationship... I'm becoming the person I want to be."
Likewise, Christina split from Gary last month shortly after photographs surfaced of the couple smiling and strolling in California arm in arm.
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While a source told the magazine they broke up due to outside pressures, the HGTV star's representative Cassandra Zebisch said "being in a relationship is the last thing on her mind" right now considering Tarek filed for divorce on January 9 and the estranged spouses are filming Season 7 of Flip or Flop together while trying to amicably co-parent daughter Taylor, 6, and son Brayden, 18 months.
Christina dating Gary "bothered me," Tarek told Us, "but she can live her life. I've totally moved on."
Tarek also insisted he never hired a private investigator to follow Christina because he's "done worrying about the past."
According to police reports, Gary witnessed the couple's May 2016 incident in which authorities were called to Tarek and Christina's home to check on a "possibly suicidal male with a gun."
Christina was allegedly bawling her eyes out at the time and Tarek fled the house in a fit of rage. The pair, however, eventually called the event that prompted their separation an "unfortunate misunderstanding."
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"We didn't stay together that night. We went to counseling to see what we could do to work things out. Ultimately, it was best to separate. Over the summer, I moved out. We thought it was best to have space. We didn't want the kids to see us upset," Tarek revealed.
But the demise of their marriage was apparently "gradual" over time because they were both "very busy people with health issues," including Tarek's two cancer diagnoses and Christina's struggle with infertility.
"We didn't fight, we just grew apart," Tarek explained, adding that the divorce has also been friendly for the most part, although working together hasn't exactly been smooth sailing.
"There haven't been fights. We have fifty-fifty custody now. She's a great mom and I like to think I'm a great dad. Sometimes she or I will say, 'I need them for an extra day or two.' We're both flexible... We did their birthday parties as a family. We'll spend a lot of time together -- Christmas, Christmas Eve."
In response to claims Tarek has verbally abused his ex on the set of Flip or Flop, like "bragging loudly about sleeping with girls," he called them "absurd."
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"We'll be together for the rest of our lives because we have kids. We need to get along for the kids and for our sanity," Tarek noted.
Tarek is focused on his children, himself and his career for the time being.
"I rented a home in Newport Beach, and I'm selling real estate on my own. I take Taylor to Chuck E. Cheese's, and we go for bike rides on the beach," he revealed.
"My son is obsessed with music. We have Christmas music playing to this day and we dance. My goal is to create memories, and I think I'm doing that. I'm the happiest I've been in a long time. It takes a situation like this, where you get knocked down and you rebuild yourself into the person you want to be."
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski