Tarek El Moussa Recalls Moment He 'Lost Everything' Amid Christina Hall Divorce

Tarek El Moussa

Tarek El Moussa shed new light on the weeks leading up to his breakup and subsequent divorce from Christina Hall.

The HGTV star recently sat down with E! News to promote his new book, Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress — in Real Estate, Business and Life, and during the conversation, he recalled "the moment" he knew he needed to seek professional help for struggles with his mental health.

Setting up the scene, the 42-year-old explained that three years before he "lost everything" in 2016–including his relationship, mansion, Mercedes, motorcycle, and BMW convertible–he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. "Right after that, I found out I had testicular cancer. So then I went through the treatments, the surgeries, and then right as I started to get healthy again, I hurt my back."

"Then I was on opiates for about a year," he said. "Percocet, Dilaudid, Vicodin. And after that, I still wasn't feeling good."

"So I started taking testosterone injections and that was the end of me," he shared. "My hormones were all over the place because I had no thyroid."

"And in 2016, my life imploded. Christina left me and it was heartbreaking. And at the same time, looking back 20/20 hindsight, you know. I understand why she did," he added.

"I was a mess for quite a few years and I found myself on my own, living on a boat for two weeks after she left me. Not eating, drinking way too much. One day I was just hanging out, passed out, hit the deck. When I woke up my friends were shaking me. They immediately set me up on the phone with Dr. Drew and I ended up moving to a halfway house."

When asked about the "moment" he knew he needed help, El Moussa admitted that it came weeks before his then-wife of seven years left him.

"I knew there was a major problem [before she left] because inside I was dying. I was slowly dying. It's so hard to explain," he continued, "You know people that are suffering with mental health issues, you can't control it. It's almost like it's out of your hands and then you throw in the testosterone and the hormones and the pills and you're just not the same human anymore."

"I knew I needed the help that day on the boat because I don't know if I would've made it," he concluded.

Since he started the press tour for his new book, El Moussa has been pretty open about his journey. Last month, he broke his silence about the "blowup" argument he had with his now-ex-wife, citing it as the final straw in what led to their divorce. He even went on to admit why he didn't think he was the "best husband" to her.

The former couple share two kids, Taylor and Brayden, and have since moved on and remarried. El Moussa went on to welcome a second son, Tristan, with his current wife, Heather. Hall is also the mom to Hudson, whom she shares with ex Ant Anstead.

Next: Christina Hall Reveals Her ‘Toughest’ Clients: ‘They Actually Didn’t Follow My Advice’ (Exclusive)