Tarek El Moussa Opens Up About Battling Cancer in His 30s: ‘It’s Given Me Gratitude’
HGTV star Tarek El Moussa has said battling two types of cancer in his 30s gave him a whole new perspective on life, making him eternally grateful for his blessings.
The Flipping 101 host recently spoke with Fox News Digital about his past health issues and how they affected his life. “Man, cancer is a scary word. And when you’re facing cancer, you know there’s always that potential of death,” El Moussa told the outlet.
He continued, “And when you’re staring death in the face, it makes you really, really realize what life is about, what you should be grateful for.”
The 43-year-old was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2013 after a Flip or Flop viewer, nurse Ryan Read, noticed a lump on the real estate investor’s throat while watching the show. Read contacted the show’s producers, and El Moussa went to get it checked out. In addition to his thyroid cancer diagnosis, he was also diagnosed with testicular cancer.
“The scariest part for me was not knowing if I was going to live or die, because at the time I was young, I had a family, I have my daughter, Taylor, and the scariest thing was not knowing if I would be around to raise my baby,” El Moussa added.
At the time, El Moussa was married to his ex-wife and current Flip Off co-host Christina Haack. The former couple welcomed a daughter, Taylor, on September 22, 2010, and a son, Brayden, on August 20, 2015.
“I wasn’t only diagnosed with one cancer; it turned out in my early 30s I had two cancers,” El Moussa stated before revealing he’s now cancer-free. “Fortunately, it’s been 10 years. I’m in remission from both cancers, I’m thriving, the kids are thriving, and we made it.”
El Moussa and Haack divorced amid his cancer treatments, though they remain friends and co-stars. He married his second wife, Heather Rae Young, in 2021, and together they welcomed a baby boy, Tristan, on January 31, 2023.
“Through my experiences of being sick, it’s given me this level of gratitude that I don’t think I would have had if I didn’t go through such awful experiences,” El Moussa added.
Flipping 101 With Tarek El Moussa, Season 4, Thursdays, 9/8c, HGTV
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