Christina Haack has a secret weapon in her battle with her ex-husband Tarek El Moussa.
The former couple are facing off in a house renovation challenge in the new HGTV series The Flip Off. So far, Christina has been struggling to beat Tarek and his new wife Heather in the room-by-room challenge. So, in the show’s Feb. 18 episode, she turned to a judge she suspected would give her an edge: her other ex, Ant Anstead.
Christina enlists Ant Anstead as a judge on ‘The Flip Off’
Christina has lost two of the three challenges so far on The Flip Off. Now, the teams are renovating the secondary bedrooms in their flips, and Christina is determined that her design will come out on top. She’s also in charge of picking the judge for this challenge, and she knows she needs to be strategic. With that in mind, she turned to an unlikely ally.
Ant and Christina split in 2020 after a short marriage. They share one son, Hudson. The pair’s post-divorce dynamic has been frosty, she admitted, but things have thawed since her breakup with Josh Hall, and they’re now committed to being cordial co-parents.
Inviting Ant to serve as a Flip Off judge is a big leap, and Christina worried she’s “overstepping.” However, he didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“I’ll do it,” he said. “Only because I want to see you up against Tarek and Heather.”
The former Wheeler Dealers host warned his former wife he wasn’t going to pull punches.
“If your room’s rubbish, I’m going to tell you,” he said. “And you can’t hold it against me if Tarek happens to be the winner.”
Who won the latest ‘Flip Off’ challenge?
Both teams pulled off impressive room transformations in this episode. In fact, the spaces ended up looking pretty similar, thanks to Christina and Heather choosing some identical design elements.
Ant found things to praise and criticize in each room. Some “small details” of Christina’s design bothered him, such as oddly placed light fixtures. In Tarek and Heather’s house, he was put off by the unconventional choice to wallpaper the guest bedroom ceiling.
“At no point in human existence should anybody put wallpaper on the ceiling,” he said.
So, who did Ant name as the ultimate winner? He declared a tie in two categories: overall design and added value. Tarek and Heather won for quality of work and transformation, while Christina won for use of space and wow factor.
With the challenge a tie, Ant had to make a decision. He decided to put family first.
“You and I will be connected forever because we have a kid,” he said, looking at Christina. “Ultimately, I have to stand by the mother of my kid.”
“It puts Christina and me on the same team forever,” he added. “And because of that, this judge is swayed. She’s on my team. You guys lose.”
Christina’s ‘plan paid off’
Tarek and Heather were stunned. They were even more shocked when Ant revealed there was nothing they could have done to win the challenge.
“When I left the house this morning, Christina had already won,” he said.
Not only did Christina win – albeit under dubious circumstances – but Ant also shared some details about Tarek and Christina’s flip that could help her bring home the big prize.
“Despite the way it happened, I won,” she said in an interview. “My plan paid off, and at the same time, I was able to get some insight from Ant on what exactly it is that Tarek and Heather are doing over there.”
The Flip Off airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on HGTV.
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