- Heather Rae El Moussa spoke about her relationship with Christina Hall on Today's "New Rules."
- She said she felt like she was "always second" to Tarek El Moussa's ex.
Heather Rae El Moussa addressed her relationship with her husband Tarek El Moussa's ex-wife, Christina Hall.
During an appearance on Today's "The New Rules" with Jill Martin, the "Selling Sunset" star opened up about her relationship with Christina Hall, sharing that she felt like she was "always second" to Tarek's first wife.
"I haven't talked about this much because I'm a very happy, positive person, but I felt like I was always second," Heather said of how she felt entering into her relationship with Tarek.
"No one ever made me feel that way, but I think when your significant other has such a long relationship with the previous spouse and a lot of love and it was a very public divorce and you're coming into it, you know you fall in love with each other, but you always kind of think of the ex," she went on to say. "For me, I did."
"So I kinda had to navigate my feelings along with falling in love with a man, raising children, getting a whole new family, also filming my own TV shows," she added.
Tarek and Christina were married from 2009 to 2018, had two children together — Taylor, 12, and Brayden, 7 — and starred on HGTV's "Flip or Flop together" for a decade. The series finale of the show airs on Thursday.
Tarek and Heather became a couple in 2019 before getting married in 2021. They're expecting their first child together.
Christina married Josh Hall in 2022, and she also shares Hudson, 3, with her ex-husband Ant Anstead.
Heather went on to say that transitioning into the El Moussa family "wasn't always perfect."
"We've definitely had some ups and downs. They had ups and downs," she said of Tarek and Christina.
"I think she realized how much I love the kids and that they are number one to me, over anything," Heather said. "So any drama aside, the kids are the most important thing to all of us."
As Insider previously reported, Tarek and Christina's relationship appeared to be strained in 2021 and 2022, as did their relationships with each other's spouses.
"Flip or Flop" abruptly ended in March 2022, with People's Mackenzie Schmidt reporting that a person familiar with the situation said filming had become "too intimate" for the exes.
In addition, Christina and Tarek fought on the set of "Flip or Flop" in July 2021 when Tarek yelled at Christina that Heather was "a hotter, richer" version of her, according to People.
Heather appeared to confirm the incident during the 2022 "Selling Sunset" reunion on May 9.
Also on May 9, the Daily Mail published photos of both Heather and Christina and Tarek and Josh yelling at each other at one of Brayden's soccer games. A soccer coach had to separate Tarek and Josh, according to the Daily Mail.
"A personal matter was discussed and has since been resolved. We are focused on co-parenting as a team moving forward," representatives for Christina and Heather said of the incident in a joint statement to Insider at the time.
Brayden underwent an emergency appendectomy on May 8, which seemed to give the Halls and El Moussas the opportunity to make amends.
Christina posted on her Instagram story that the experience was a "good wake-up call" and "what matters is the kids" on May 10. On the same day, Heather posted, "We all pulled together as a family during this stressful time." The women tagged each other in their stories.