Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa's empire is just getting started (2024)

The series follows Heather, 35, and Tarek, 41, flipping 10 luxury homes in California, and it has all the trappings of a popular HGTV show: hosts with natural chemistry, gorgeous houses, and exciting happenings in the couple's personal lives — namely, a pregnancy — to help carry the viewer through the season.

Insider spoke to the couple ahead of the premiere, and through the conversation, it became clear Tarek and Heather don't just want to have the next big HGTV show; they want to build a lifestyle empire.

The series provided the El Moussas with the opportunity to combine their expertise

Heather and Tarek have been inseparable since they met in July 2019. As Tarek shared on Instagram, they moved in together less than a week after their first official date, and he proposed a year later.

They got married in October 2021, dipping their toe into working together by filming their wedding for theHGTV special "Tarek & Heather: The Big I Do."

The El Moussas have appeared on each other's shows a handful of times, but "The Flipping El Moussas" was their first real joint venture, as they combined Heather's eye for luxury real estate with Tarek's flipping experience.

As Heather told Insider, much of the show was a learning process for her, as she had never flipped a home before.

Despite her inexperience, the El Moussas told Insider that working as a pair was a breeze; it was the realities of the market that presented them with challenges.

"The houses that we bought that we filmed for season one, when we bought them, the interest rates were under 3%. When we went to sell them, they were 6 to 7%," Tarek said.

"The market changed in the middle of our very first season, so it's a very different show than what I've done in the past," he added. "It shows what's happening with the market, and it's not always a happy ending."

Indeed, although "The Flipping El Moussas" has the fun of Tarek's previous HGTV projects and the luxury appeal of "Selling Sunset," the El Moussas' conversations about business on the show feel markedly different from their previous work.

"The Flipping El Moussas" gives viewers more insight into Tarek's flipping business, Tarek Buys Houses, making clear there is actually a company behind the glitz of the El Moussas' reality series.

The premiere introduces the president of Tarek's company, shows off Tarek's offices, and includes clips of Tarek teaching Heather the ropes of the flipping business. They are clearly working, which one can sometimes forget when watching other home-improvement shows.

The El Moussas' excitement about partnering together also shines through in the first episode. In the opening scene, Tarek says he's excited to work on the show with Heather simply because he will get to spend more time with his wife.

And if the other projects they have in the works are any indication, it seems mixing business with pleasure might be the best thing Heather and Tarek have ever done.

The El Moussas are building an empire

Tarek and Heather are both still filming episodes for "Flipping 101" and "Selling Sunset" in addition to "The Flipping El Moussas," but they told Insider their reality shows are just one revenue stream.

Tarek created HomeSchooled by Tarek to teach others to flip homes with seminars and training programs, bringing his expertise to a wider audience. He also founded TEM Capital, an equity real-estate company that focuses on commercial projects.

More recently, Heather and Tarek launched the solar company Solar Vision, and they've already found success with it.

"In our very first month of business, we actually broke the industry record for the most sales of any solar company in US history," Tarek told Insider.

As if that isn't enough, the couple revealed to Insider they have a home line coming out later this year called Home by Tarek and Heather, and this summer, Heather will be joining the ranks of celebrities entering the beauty space with Heather Rae Essentials.

"It's a clean beauty line that I've been working on for over a year now," Heather said. "I'm going to be launching with five lip glosses, a body scrub, a body lotion, and a body wash."

"I have my aesthetician license, and I used to work at a spa years and years and years ago," she said of why beauty felt like a natural step for her.

The El Moussas seem to be combining the approach of real-estate moguls with those of influencers and television personalities, giving their projects the potential to create an empire that could one day rival the Magnolia brandChip and Joanna Gainescreated.

The El Moussas' momentum was palpable as they talked to Insider about their work, and the fact that they're taking on so much with three children at home only seemed to energize them.

Family is at the heart of everything for the El Moussas

Tarek and Heather's other reality shows gave glimpses of their personal lives, but their new series is intimate from the moment it starts.

It opens with Heather and Tarek in bed together at home, having pillow talk about what it will be like to flip houses together. Later, they go to an ultrasound appointment, with Tarek filming their unborn baby's heartbeat as Heather grins at the screen.

Both Tarek and Heather seemed surprised and thrilled by the life they found with each other as they spoke to Insider.

Tarek reflected on health struggles he faced in his life, including a time he didn't think he would be able to have more children when he had testicular cancer, and Heather said meeting Taylor and Brayden and seeing Tarek with them is what made her want to have a baby.

"They're very special kids and I'm so in love with them, and that's what made me want to have a baby, as well as my love for Tarek," Heather said. "This is the kind of relationship you dream of and hope for. I found the love of my life, and I wanted to create a beautiful baby with him."

As they approached a reality show together, the El Moussas wanted to put that authentic love on film.

"Something that was important to us was to capture us in the most real and organic state possible," Tarek said. "We wanted the cameras to capture our lives, not us trying to perform for cameras."

The family Tarek and Heather created is the foundation for all that they do, and they told Insider that working together only made them more connected.

"We love being together," Heather said. "Tarek and I really trust each other, and we value each other and respect each other."

Tarek and Heather are living the life of their dreams together, and they're only dreaming bigger as time goes on.