The Truth About HGTV Star Christina Hall's Messy History Filming With Her Husbands

Christina Hall has pulled off something most of us would consider a nightmare: working with her exes (who were husbands at the time). The HGTV star spent years co-starring with her first ex-husband, Tarek El Moussa, on "Flip or Flop," teamed up with her third ex, Josh Hall, for its spin-off, "The Flip Off," and even had her second husband, Ant Anstead, pop up on "Christina on the Coast." But while she's made a habit of mixing business with exes, one expert says this pattern is far from healthy.

To Christina's credit, she's never claimed that working with a spouse is easy — or even a good idea. Despite making it look effortless on TV, she's been candid about the drawbacks. "I mean, it is challenging to work with your spouse, especially if they're not used to being on TV," she admitted to Us Weekly, although after nearly a decade of working with El Moussa, she's learned to go with the flow. "I'm just so used to doing it... I don't take things too seriously and I feel like... who I am, like day-to-day is different than who I am on camera."

But as we all know by now, all three of her marriages, each involving partners she worked with in one way or another, have gone up in flames. But Dr. Patrick Wanis, behavior and relationship expert and author of "Get Over Your Ex Now!" isn't surprised. According to him, this habit of turning her marriages into business ventures likely played a big part in why these relationships ended in divorce.

Christina Hall might make it look like working with her husbands (now exes) was a breeze, but according to Dr. Patrick Wanis, that choice could have played a significant role in the unraveling of her marriages. While working together may not have been the sole reason for their breakups, it undoubtedly had a profound impact on their relationship dynamics —often for the worse.

"The main problem with spouses working together is that they spend too much time together and don't get sufficient breaks from each other, including social breaks and time spent with other people who are not work-related. When the spouses leave the workplace and are at home, they often continue discussing business, and it becomes their primary concern," Wanis explained in an interview with Nicki Swift, adding that Christina and her exes likely allowed their HGTV shows to dominate their relationship, leaving little else to connect over. "Further, their identities become too deeply enmeshed because of the business," he said. "It is much healthier if each person in a couple has their own identity, work, and interests. Then, when they get together, they can share experiences, exchange stories, and offer support to each other."

Christina Hall's fans know all too well the on-screen squabbles she had with her exes, but in her interview with Us Weekly, she admitted that some of those arguments were more for the drama than anything else. "Bickering on camera is not necessarily full reality," she confessed. "It's like a character. So, there's just so much conversation and dynamics and things that have to be talked about on and off-camera."

But Dr. Patrick Wanis isn't buying that those spats didn't have real-life consequences. "Disagreements and conflicts from the workplace can spill over into personal life, making it difficult to maintain a healthy boundary between professional and personal relationships," he explained to Nicki Swift. And if those disagreements lingered without resolution, it likely made it tough for Christina and her exes to get a breather from each other at home. "The constant presence of one's spouse can also lead to feelings of suffocation and a lack of personal space, which is crucial for individual well-being. Yes, married couples still need some time apart and time for themselves individually." Sure, their TV squabbles might have been part of the script, but as we all know, the real-life fallout was impossible to edit out.

Christina Hall has never really explained why she chose to mix business with pleasure by working with her exes, but Dr. Patrick Wanis has a few educated guesses. While he admits that working with a spouse can put a strain on a marriage, he also points out that there are still a few upsides. "One advantage is that you get to see your spouse regularly and can avoid arguments about one spouse working too much. Another advantage is that if two spouses own a business together, the money stays within the family," he shared with Nicki Swift.

However, when it comes to Christina, Wanis suspects the motivations might be a bit more complicated — and frankly, not so pretty. "Is it because she is insecure and needs to constantly be around them? Does she want to be in control or have all the power? Is she afraid of having a life separate from her spouse or her spouse having a life separate from her?" speculated Wanis. "Could she be in a relationship where her husband and his work and finances are not so closely intertwined with hers? Could she be with a husband who is not financially or career-dependent upon her?" His final take? "I would suggest she consider the reason that she has always chosen to work with her husbands."

With three of Christina Hall's marriages going up in flames — and the HGTV star already joking about a fourth ex-husband — Dr. Patrick Wanis thinks it's high time she hit pause and took a good, hard look at what went wrong in each relationship. At this point, it's hard to ignore the possibility that there's a pattern, unless she's just been unlucky enough to keep picking the wrong guys.

"I suggest that Christina also reflect on her own contributions to the marriages that did not work. One must always accept responsibility for outcomes in which one plays a role," Wanis told Nicki Swift. "For Christina, there is a pattern. It might also be a situation where she chose the wrong partners, but she should examine why she chose partners with whom she would be working so closely."

And if she finds herself walking down the aisle again, Christina might want to rethink the whole business-partner dynamic — or at least try to approach it differently. "The other advice I share with clients who work together is to stop talking about business when they come home and instead focus on being a couple and enjoying each other," Wanis advised. "Additionally, they should schedule vacations together as well as some time apart."

When news got out that Christina Hall and Josh Hall had decided to split, the "Christina on the Coast" star tried to keep things light by joking about replacing Josh with another ex, Ant Anstead. She even quipped to a fan on Instagram that it would be "genius" to invite Anstead to her show "The Flip Off," with another ex, Tarek El-Moussa, but she had a change of heart in an interview with Backgrid. "It would be good for ratings, but I can't work with any more exes," she said (via People). "I already work with Tarek." Still, Christina couldn't resist leaving the door slightly ajar, teasing, "Maybe season two," she teased.

Despite her hesitation, Christina is no stranger to working with exes. As she pointed out, she's already collaborating with Tarek, with the two even continuing their hit show "Flip or Flop" for a while after their divorce, though she once admitted it wasn't exactly a walk in the park. "There were hard, tense days, but it wasn't a reality show based on a marriage; it was still about the houses, so that made it easier," she told Us Weekly (via Deadline). "We had to show up, do our jobs and then went home and didn't have to talk to each other."

Now, though, it seems like Christina and El-Moussa have found a better groove, which could mean more seasons of "The Flip Off" on the horizon. As one insider told the outlet, "Everyone is communicating better."