HGTV’s Tarek El Moussa Talks Battling 2 Different Cancers
In some terrifying news, Flipping 101 star Tarek El Moussa revealed he battled two different kinds of cancer. Looking back on the battle, he said that he was “staring death in the face” and he talks about what effect this has on his life and how he lives it moving forward.
Here is what you need to know about Tarek’s cancer battle and how it changed his life.
Tarek El Moussa Had Two Different Forms Of Cancer
In a recent interview, Tarek El Moussa talked about his cancer battle. He didn’t have just one form of cancer but two. It put his entire life into focus for the HGTV star. Tarek received a diagnosis for both thyroid and testicular cancer.
“Man, cancer is a scary word. And when you’re facing cancer, you know there’s always that potential of death,” Tarek said (via Fox News). “And when you’re staring death in the face, it makes you really, really realize what life is about, what you should be grateful for.”
Tarek reveals that he was diagnosed with cancer when he was in his early 30s. He said that a fan noticed a lump on his neck in 2013 during one of his shows and suggested he see a doctor. That fans saved his life because that is when he learned he had thyroid cancer. He was then also diagnosed with testicular cancer. “I wasn’t only diagnosed with one cancer, it turned out in my early 30s I had two cancers,” Tarek said.
He said that the cancer wasn’t what scared him the most. At the time, his daughter was a baby, and he didn’t want to miss out on being there for his child. “I had a family, I have my daughter, Taylor, and the scariest thing was not knowing if I would be around to raise my baby,” he said.
What Happened With Tarek El Moussa’s Cancer Battles?
There was great news that came out of this revelation. Tarek El Moussa made it through. In 2019, doctors declared he was cancer-free. He said in the interview that it has been over ten years since the diagnosis and he is in remission from both cancers.
“I’m thriving, the kids are thriving, and we made it,” Tarek said. He also talked about how fighting cancer saved his life. “Through my experiences of being sick, it’s given me this level of gratitude that I don’t think I would have had if I didn’t go through such awful experiences,” he said.
It was even harder because it was in 2016, in the middle of his cancer treatments, that his marriage to Christina Haack ended. Their divorce was finalized in 2018, one year before he was declared cancer-free. The two seem to get along, though. They co-star in the show The Flip Off, along with his current wife, Heather.
“What’s the most awkward situation?” he joked. “Well, that would be filming a show with my wife and my ex-wife. I don’t think it gets any more awkward than that.”
What are your thoughts on Tarek El Moussa opening up about his cancer battles? Are you surprised to learn he had two forms of cancer and beat them both? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
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