The Truth About Christina Anstead's First HGTV Show
Christina Anstead is one the biggest names in HGTV history, thanks to the super-popular Flip or Flop and its Anstead-focused spin-off Christina on the Coast. Her house flipping show with ex-husband Tarek El Moussa is one of the most successful in the home renovation network's history, even continuing after they'd divorced.
However, although it may seem like it was all meant to be, the 2008 economic downturn was what propelled the then-couple and partners in a real estate firm to roll up their sleeves and start renovating homes as a business. Before Anstead was entertainingly sparring with El Moussa, however, she was on another HGTV show entirely.
Christina Anstead made friends with a couple of famous brothers
El Moussa sent in an audition tape to HGTV looking to sell a show so the couple could supplement their dwindling income and that, combined with their popular house-flipping Instagram page, helped them get over the line (after a year of waiting and hoping). Flip or Flop landed in 2013.
Prior to that, though, Anstead had appeared opposite HGTV stalwarts and Property Brothers stars Drew and Jonathan Scott, on a spin-off looking to capitalize on their growing popularity. Reality competition show Brother vs. Brother, which is naturally also home makeover themed, found the brothers working against each other to turn a home from drab to fab quickest.
Cheat Sheet reports that, in its early stages, sitting on the judging panel was none other than Anstead who it was clear, even back then, was primed to become a celebrity in her own right. Anstead, who's also found time in her busy schedule to co-author a book about wellness, told Extra earlier this year working with her ex-husband is all about finding the right balance, advising, "I think if you just make it about the kids... that's really the most important [thing]. ...At the end of the day we're both, you know, trying to raise the best kids we can and that's all that really matters."