With a baby and a new HGTV show, Heather Rae El Moussa says she doesn’t have time for the “hate” directed at her online. Married since October 2021 to longtime HGTV host Tarek El Moussa, with whom she currently stars on The Flipping El Moussas, the new mom says she’s so “obsessed” with their six-week-old son, Tristan Jay, that she’s focused on him. and not on the negativity on the internet.
The 35-year-old real estate broker, who has also appeared in the Netflix series Selling Sunset since it premiered in 2019, is used to the online criticism that often comes into the public eye. In a new interview with British digital magazine Blush, El Moussa said she’s doing her best to ignore the naysayers as she navigates life as a new mom and one of HGTV’s newest stars.
Heather Rae El Moussa says she tries to avoid drama
GettyHeather and Tarek El Moussa with some of her cast mates in ‘Sales Sunset’.
In her interview with Blush, El Moussa said she was pleasantly surprised that most of her social media followers were kind to her baby boy, who was born on January 31, considering she usually gets so much pushback on her posts.
With more than three million followers on Instagram, El Moussa has a large following who enjoy a glimpse into her often glamorous life, but she also regularly receives hateful comments about everything from her voice to her looks, including many comparisons to her ex-wife husband. and former Flip or Flop co-star Christina Hall. Even her mother-in-law recently tried to stand up for her by clapping back at Facebook users who left unkind comments.
“In general, I get a lot of hate for a lot of things, and you’re not going to please everybody,” El Moussa told Blush. “Also, I don’t just post things for other people, I post things for myself.”
“I’ve never been the kind of girl who has a ton of drama,” she added.
However, she is known to stick up for her friends when she sees them being bullied online. When El Moussa posted photos from her baby shower in November, many people slammed her friends, criticizing them for being too glamorous or scantily clad for the event. Her “Sailing Sunset” co-star Chriselle Staves received so much backlash for her outfit that El Moussa took the time to respond to commenters.
“Seeing a lot of negative comments and I just don’t understand why so many people choose to live with such negativity and tear people down when it was such a great day,” she wrote. “Who cares what my friends wore?? They are all beautiful and I want them to feel strong. And no, it wasn’t a “normal children’s party”, but what else is normal….?? Really, let’s just lift each other up and stop the mean comments that tear women down. Isn’t there enough hate in the world already??”
El Musa told Blush, “I think like you see me in (Selling Sunset), I’m good friends with all the girls. I am the one who keeps the peace. I try to see everyone’s point of view. I speak up when I have to speak up.”
Heather Rae El Moussa is happy that most of her followers appreciate her posts in real life as a new mom
Since the birth of baby Tristan, El Moussa said that all her attention is focused on the little one, and she wants to be honest about how the first days of motherhood are going for her. On February 15, when the couple announced Tristan’s name, El Moussa said they received a “very positive response” from fans.
“I think everyone is just excited to finally hear his name,” she said, noting followers were getting impatient after waiting 15 days for the name to be announced and sharing photos of his face, which was first reported by Us Weekly.
She explained: “In the beginning we wanted to keep it private, especially because we were very busy.”
In the weeks that followed, El Moussa tried to be candid about her postpartum experience, including her struggles with breastfeeding and struggling with her workload — including filming segments for both of her shows. On March 11, when she had to dress up to film scenes for The Flipping El Moussas and leave baby Tristan at home, she wrote about how hard it was to leave him.
“I’m done with these photos because I still have a few scenes to finish for Flipping El Moussos, but it’s really killing me to leave it,” she wrote. “I cried the first time I was away from him for 4 hours because honestly, my whole world revolves around Tristan and it’s hard to think about anything else.”
She added: “I’m only sharing this because I don’t want to post pictures of me completely made up without also sharing some reality.”
Most people responded with empathy or shared their own stories of early motherhood, but El Moussa still received pushback from some of the post.
For example, one person wrote, “But hey, gotta keep Heather in the spotlight. Soon the nanny will take over 💯 and you’ll be taking selfies in our faces again. Am I wrong?”
El Moussa also received a lot of criticism for her March 14 post, which featured two images from a photo shoot with her baby Tristan rocking a light blue tulle dress with puffy sleeves. Many argued she shouldn’t be in his newborn photos, calling her appearance “selfish” and “weird”, while others slammed the dress.
But no amount of internet churn seems to be affecting the growing popularity of El Moussa’s new HGTV series, which airs on Thursday nights. Three weeks into the first season, early ratings results from ShowBuzzDaily show that the final episode, which aired on March 16, drew more viewers than the previous two weeks — despite the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament monopolizing the ratings. “The Flipping El Moussas” was among the top 10 non-basketball programs on television that night.