Real estate investor and reality starTarek El Moussais one ofHGTV’s most familiar faces. Best known for co-hosting the network’s showFlip or Flopwith his ex-wifeChristina Hall, El Moussa has built an empire for himself by purchasing properties, renovating them, and then selling them for a profit. The show,Flip and Flop,was one ofHGTV’s most successful shows and ran for 10 seasons before it went off the air. However, that wasn’t the end of El Moussa’s career in reality TV. Over the years, El Moussa has expanded his brand with HGTV’sFlipping 101 with Tarek El Moussa,where he mentors upcoming flippers. El Moussa currently also stars inThe Flipping El Moussasalongside his wife andSelling SunsetalumHeather Rae El Moussa. The show features the couple’s journey as newlyweds and property experts.
However, all this success hasn’t come without its share of challenges. TheHGTVstar has gone through a drastic health transformation in the last few years. His decision to take better care of his health came after El Moussa’s struggle with not just one, but two types of cancer. Tarek El Moussawas diagnosed with thyroid and testicular cancer back in 2013after a fan noticed a lump on his neck during an episode ofFlip or Flop. The fan immediately contacted the producers of the show and a lightbulb went off in El Moussa’s head. He had been dismissing his throat problems for years, blaming them all on his heavy smoking. But thankfully, this particular instance led him to discover his cancer. And while El Moussa’s battle with his health issues has been long and difficult, the reality star seems to have finally found his way back to a normal life. This is why his health journey is more than just about beating cancer — it’s about how El Moussacompletely turned his life aroundfor himself and his family.
The Flipping El Moussas
Follows couple Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae El Moussa during their personal and professional journey of newlyweds and real estate experts.
The Beginning of Tarek El Moussa’s Health Troubles
While El Moussa had seen a few doctors after experiencing pressure in his neck, no one had really taken his condition seriously. The reality star’s doctors had given him painkillers and nose sprays without doing an ultrasound or biopsy. However, the email from his fanprompted El Moussa to get his lump checked out once again,and soon enough, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. However, that’s not where the troubles ended. The diagnosis prompted El Moussa to go through his old medical records to spot any other irregularities in his health.
According toPeople, the reality star found a concerning testicular exam in 2011 and decided to go for further testing. Unfortunately, his hunch was right, and the doctorsdiagnosed El Moussa with testicular cancer as well. Of course, this came as a huge surprise to the reality star and his family. But in an episode of theTNTdocumentary seriesChasing the Cure,El Moussa expressed how grateful he was to the fan who unknowingly helped save his life. Here’s how the reality star put it in his own words:
“If she didn’t send that email, there’s a chance I wouldn’t be doing this interview right now. If she didn’t send that email, maybe other people out there never would have found out they had cancer because I didn’t have my story.”
Now, while it took theHGTVcelebrity a while to processhis double cancer diagnosis, he eventually started looking at his options. El Moussa had his doctors schedule surgeries and, at the same time,began radioactive iodine therapy. Thankfully, he was able to come out stronger on the other side and beat both of his cancers. Sadly, what the reality star didn’t know at the moment was that it wouldn’t be long before he would have to go back to the hospital for another reason.
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The Golf Injury That Changed El Moussa’s Life
Less thannine months after his cancer treatment had ended, the reality star went to play golf for the first time in ages. And while everything was going smoothly, toward the end of the course, he injured his back. The reality star shared the story in his tell-allmemoir released on June 15, 2025, talking about how debilitating the experience was. He wrote, “I was finishing one of the last holes of the course when I felt a spasm in my back. Something was obviously wrong because there was continuous pain.” That’s where things went wrong.El Moussa confessedthat even though he knew he should’ve stopped playing “immediately,” he still pushed through the game.
This ended up being the worst decision he made that day. Soon after that first spasm, the pain started radiating throughout his body. In the reality star’s own words, his body was “on fire.” His friends eventually helped him into a golf cart, got him to his car and El Moussa somehow drove himself to the hospital. However,it all came crashing down once he reached the emergency room. This is how he described the scene in his book:
“I opened my car door and tried to get out, I dropped to the pavement. I started crawling to the door. Nurses came running. All I could say was, ‘Please help me.’”
But that was onlythe beginning of fifteen months of a brand-new medical challenge. The reality star had several slipped discs pinching the sciatic nerve in his lower back. As part of his treatment, El Moussa was prescribed a bunch of painkillers, met medical specialists, and even tried physical therapy. But nothing worked. To make the pain manageable, he was taking several doses of Vicodin, Dilaudid, and morphine, as described in his book. “I was high as a kite all day long,” writes the Dad of 3.
Tarek El Moussalost 60 pounds during this period, after which he made the decision to get back surgery. But that’s when things went even further downhill. While the operation went well, he experienced a serious complication from his hospital stay in 2014. El Moussa explained the details of the complications in his book, writing, “The catheter they had inserted at the hospital caused my urethra to close up. It should have been checked before I was sent home, but it wasn’t. My urethra had swollen shut.”
The reality star added that he thought he was going to die because the pain had kept him up all night. He eventuallycalled 911 at 6:30 in the morningand was taken to the hospital where he stayed another week. During all of this,HGTVwanted to cancel his show while the reality star focused on his health. But El Moussa convinced them not to since he wanted to share his battle with the viewers openly.
The realtor recalled the exhaustion from all his treatments and the emotional pain that he was enduring because of his hormonal imbalance. Now, El Moussa thought that all of this was stemming from his testicular cancer treatment. So, he went to a hormone clinic wherethe doctor put him on testosterone. And that’s where things started going wrong. “I was on way too much testosterone, on top of that, taking human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) injections every day,” revealedtheHGTVcelebrity.
The Aftermath of El Moussa’s Public Divorce
As if all of this wasn’t bad enough, El Moussa’s personal life was also in shambles because, in 2016, he had anextremely public split from his wife, Christina Hall. The reality star opened up about how heartbreaking the situation was in an episode of theDr. Drew Podcast. El Moussa confessed that following his cancer diagnosis, his life went through a number offinancial and personal struggles. He opened up feeling “broken” after everything that had happened, with the divorce being his final straw.
His officialseparation from Hall in 2016 was when El Moussa decided to “flip” his life around. Hestopped taking testosterone and spent two months in rehabto beat his steroid addiction once and for all. However, that seemed to work out in his favor because El Moussa was ready to be a new man once he got out. He quit alcohol and started focusing on his health for his kids. On the same episode of the podcast, he opened up about wanting to be the best version of himself after he lost his family following the split.
El Moussa’s Health Battle Helped Shape Him
El Moussa also gives a lot of credit to his wife andSelling SunsetstarHeather Rae El Moussawhom he met in 2019. According to Tarek El Moussa, Heatherhelped him quit his alcohol addictionand motivated him to develop a healthier lifestyle. “My health journey started in 2013, but I significantly ramped up my efforts over the past three years,” he shared at theAlzheimer’s Association California Southland Chapter’s Magic of Music Galain 2024. In an episode of People TV’sReality Check, Tarek El Moussa also talked about how his realtor wife is always making sure he’s eating well and taking his vitamins.
Over the years, El Moussa has expressed his gratitude to his loved ones for being there for him through all the hurdles he has faced in his life. In anInstagrampost on July 05, 2025, El Moussa shared a shirtless photo of himself to show his followers how far he’s come on his health journey. In an interview withFox, the reality star opened up about completely reinventing himself from an overweight, chain-smoking alcoholic, sharing,“I’m almost 43 years old, I feel better, and I look better than I have in 30 years, so it’s working pretty well.”
Over the years, El Moussa has also been an advocate for men’s health, hoping that his story will inspire others to take their wellness seriously. From all the physical pain he endured to the impact of his health conditions on his mental health, Tarek El Moussa hasn’t just survived cancer — he’s transformed his entire life in the process.
Tarek El Moussa and his wife are set to star inThe Flip Offwith his ex and her current spouse. While the release date for the show hasn’t been announced yet,it has a promo, and it’s set topremiere in 2025.Till then, you may catch up on all of El Moussa’s shows onHGTV Goor stream the shows onMax.
