‘Flip Or Flop Host’ Tarek El Moussa Diagnosed By Viewer With Cancer, Now In Remission

Tarek El Moussa co-hosts HGTV’s popular series Flip or Flop with his wife, Christina. Back in 2013, when registered nurse Ryan Read was watching a Flip or Flop marathon, she noticed something troubling. There seemed to be a lump on Tarek’s neck in the thyroid area. According to Zap2It, what she did next probably saved his life. She didn’t hesitate and wrote an email to the show’s production company. She did stop long enough to think about how to properly word the email so they took her seriously.

“This is not a joke. I’m a registered nurse. I’ve been watching ‘Flip or Flop.’ I noticed that the host Tarek has a large nodule on his thyroid, and he needs to have it checked out.”

Fortunately, no one thought the email was a joke. Tarek discovered he had thyroid cancer and it had spread to his lymph nodes. During an interview on The Doctors, Read said she had “a gut feeling” when she spotted the lump on Tarek’s thryoid. Although the El Moussas and Read had previously corresponded with each other after the diagnosis, they had an emotional first meeting in person where they both gave Read a hug and thanked her.

They are now sharing that Tarek is in remission and other than a few lingering effects from the thyroid radioactive iodine therapy he received, El Moussa has made a full recovery. Tarek is now able to enjoy a cancer-free life with his wife and two children. Tarek and Chistina have one daughter, Taylor, and their son, Brayden James, was born in August.

Tarek and Christina are back with all-NEW #FlipOrFlop starting Thursday, December 3 at 9|8c!https://t.co/7T3s6kG8vn

— HGTV (@hgtv) November 12, 2015

Tarek and Christina were both real estate agents and started flipping homes after the real estate crash of 2008. A few years later, Tarek asked a friend to tape them flipping a home and he then sent the tape in to HGTV. The rest, as they say, is history. HGTV liked what they saw, and in 2012, Tarek and Christina had their own weekly show. Each week, fans of the show watch as the couple take some of the most rundown and distressed properties, and turn them into beautiful homes.

The process of flipping a house isn’t that easy, however. Each episode usually shows that things often go wrong, but working together, Tarek and Christina are able to solve the most vexing and complicated problems. Christine has the magic touch when it comes to design, and the transformations Tarek handles with her input are amazing. They are almost always able to make a large profit from their flips, although there have been a few instances where they weren’t so fortunate, but overall, Tarek and Christina have been very successful in their house-flipping venture.

Although Tarek has been battling cancer the last three years, he and Christina still have a lot of irons in the fire. They run an agency aptly called Tarek and Christina: The El Moussa Group, which is located in Orange County, California. Tarek and Christina also conduct real estate investment seminars. For those who would like to try their hand at flipping homes, the Success Path Education seminars are held all over North America. The workshops are designed to explain how the process of flipping homes works, and how to avoid the many pitfalls and mistakes.

After flipping hundreds of homes, Tarek and Christina have the process down down to a science. The system they have refined helps them to maximize profit and reduce costly errors. According to Success Path Education’s website, since Tarek and Christina started coaching, “Success Path has become one of the most popular real estate training workshops in North America.”

Check out one of our #FlipOrFlop favorites….starting now (9|8c) #OnHGTV! pic.twitter.com/gUp6QXBuBN

— HGTV (@hgtv) October 30, 2015

Now that he is feeling much better and has a clean bill of health, there’s no telling what Tarek and Christina will do now. Tarek has admitted that the last three years were quite a challenge, but that doesn’t seem to be holding him back. Tarek El Moussa did tell People that in regards to his health, he does have a lot to look forward to.

“There is always that chance of reoccurrence but every year that goes by the odds of reoccurrence goes down so it’s good… I have slowed down quite a bit. Which is actually a good thing because I can actually relax now.”

In regard to slowing down, it’s a fairly safe bet that Tarek was talking about not taking on any ambitious new projects while undergoing treatment, and that he can now relax knowing that his cancer is in remission. Slowing down or taking a long break from current projects doesn’t seem to be in Tarek’s plans for the future, however. As time goes by and as Tarek feels stronger, he will undoubtedly pick up the pace once again.

Are you a fan of the show? Leave your comments, thoughts and opinions below. Flip or Flop returns with all new episodes airing on Thursday’s at 9 p.m. ET on HGTV.

[Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images]