"Flip or Flop" stars, Tekar and Christina El Moussa, separated about a month ago saying they wanted to "reevaluate their marriage," but it seems that the reevaluation period is over as Tarek has now filed for divorce. Tarek El Moussa Files For Divorce…But the Show Will Go On, by TMZ Staff, tmz.com, January 10, 2017. The parties have two minor children together, and Tarek is seeking joint custody. In addition, he is asking Christina to pay alimony, but wants the Judge to block her from receiving alimony from him.
The alimony issue aside, what will make this case interesting is that the parties work together so they have to remain as civil as possible "if they want to continue monetizing what they do." Even in the most amicable divorces, there is a reason for the split. Whatever the reason is, the parties likely do not want to spend any more time together than absolutely necessary. Here, even if the parties live separately, they have to get up each morning and go to work with each other. Theirs is not a job in which they can silently sit side by side on computers all day and communicate as little as possible. Rather, they will be forced to work closely together to make decisions and it will be interesting to see if they can separate their emotions about the breakdown of their marriage from the mindset they need to continue to be successful in this particular career.
In addition, the fact of the divorce itself could greatly affect their financial situation. Part of their what makes their show popular and marketable is that they are a married couple flipping houses together. Presumably, a large audience will tune in to new episodes just to see how they act around each other knowing that a divorce is looming but, once that drama has run its course, the intrigue may be gone. This will, in turn, impact the income of both parties which will, in turn, affect child support and alimony. So many of the issues in this divorce will be affected by whether this real estate power couple can continue to work together and make the income they did during the marriage. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.