HGTV shows are not immune to a bit of fakery, with House Hunters often cited as a big offender. But for shows like The Flip Off, a lot of what’s really going on with renovations is happening. We often see Tarek and Heather arguing over style and how much money to spend on the design -- a messy way of working Heather calls "beautiful chaos" -- but despite a few snafus that do crop up on television, the whole thing feels fairly breezy to the audience, leading to eventual profit.
According to Tarek, that’s not really the full story. In fact, what we don’t see is a lot of grind. He said recently on his Instagram account that the environment is “high pressure” before it’s edited into a half-hour or hourlong format, writing:
Flipping houses changed my life — but I’m not gonna lie, it’s a grind. Long days, high pressure, and you don’t get paid till the job’s done. That’s the reality most people don’t see.
Of course, we do sometimes see stressful moments play out on The Flip Off. There's the time Christina Haack dropped ex Josh Hall like dead weight after he said to the cameras she was "pissing" him off. From a work standpoint, there are also times when previous work on homes was maybe not done correctly or issues end up being pricier than expected to tame.
There’s lots of fun to be had, as well. Tarek’s wife Heather and his ex Christina El Moussa are sometimes seen hanging out outside of work hours at kids games and for other promo events, and even when the competition is on, we see moments of them jokingly talking smack or aligning in different ways.
Regardless, there's no doubt Tarek is very serious about the numbers and has always been a return on investment guy. He said in another recent interview with Realtor.com that things change in the market all the time, but through his long career, he’s managed to build a decent business by sticking with “the same approach."
I will always stick with the same approach, which is, 'What do the buyers want in this market? How can I build, create, deliver exactly what they want, and capitalize on it by giving them what they want? My focus is the buyer.
While it may feel like a significant number of people are flipping houses these days, much more so thanks to HGTV's popularity, it is hard work, and Tarek says it's not for the faint of heart.
However, he clearly has a knack for the industry, and for flipping houses when the cameras are rolling. His chemistry both with his wife and his ex-wife is part of the reason The Flip Off charmed a huge audience, became the highest rated freshman drama since 2022, and avoided the cancelation axe that came down on so many HGTV shows this year.
The Flip Off has officially been renewed, and we'll let you know as soon as there's a date for it to return to the 2025 TV schedule (or beyond).
