Ant Anstead made a decision that may spark some backlash while judging Episode 4 of The Flip Off. In a surprising move, Christina Haack chose her ex-husband as the judge for the guest bedroom/bathroom renovation. He had to choose whether she or her first ex-husband, Tarek El Moussa, and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa, did a better job at flipping the guest bedroom/bathroom.
Christina explained that she and Ant, whom she shares one child with, agreed to put their differences behind them after her split from Josh Hall. Meanwhile, Tarek revealed that he had also “built a relationship” with the television presenter after Ant’s divorce from Christina.
“I feel like my relationship with him has been way better than his and Christina’s over the years,” Tarek admitted.
When it came down to judging, Ant announced that it was a tie. He gave Tarek and Heather the points for quality of work and transformation, while Christina got points for use of space and wow factor. However, when it came to overall design, there was a draw since they used a lot of the same ideas. Ant also opted not to score for the added value category since he didn’t feel like this wouldn’t be fair to judge on until the whole house was sold.
Despite the tie score, Ant still chose Christina as the winner, strictly because of their history. “Ultimately, when I came into this endeavor [I was] thinking this was about assessing and judging based on the performance, the design, the execution of the house, but actually it dawned on me that it was so much more than that,” he admitted to his ex-wife. “Hudson’s 5 now and in those five years it’s been really difficult and that changed three months ago. The relationship that we have now is really, really important. And it’s been a transformation.”
He continued, “It took, as parents, 4 and a half years to get to that point, which is really shameful. You and I will always be connected forever because we have a kid. So, ultimately, I have to stand by the mother of my kids. It’s not going to be something that you want to hear because unfortunately it puts Christina and me on the same team forever. So, unfortunately, this judge is swayed.”
Ant explained that he was raised to “stick with your family,” and he admitted that “Christina had already won,” even before he saw the finished products. Needless to say, Tarek was pretty annoyed, especially since this put them at a 2-2 tie for the entire competition. However, the ultimate winner will be decided by who receives the higher return on investment (ROI) when the houses are sold.
After announcing his decision, Ant pulled Christina aside to give her some intel. “Their house is better than yours,” he warned her. “It’s in a better location, it has better marks, but what this has done is it’s given you a fighting chance.”
Do you think the way that Ant made his decision was fair? Sound off in the comments below!
The Flip Off, Wednesdays, 8/7c, HGTV