HGTV ‘Flip or Flop’ Host and Two-Time Cancer Survivor: Tarek El Moussa
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Tarek El Moussa, 48, is an American real estate investor and TV personality best known for co-hosting HGTV's ‘Flip or Flop’. In 2013, while in his early 30s, El Moussa was diagnosed with two cancers in the span of two months.
El Moussa’s first cancer diagnosis
The first sign that led El Moussa to finding out that he had cancer, was receiving an "eerie email" from a concerned fan, a registered nurse from Texas. The fan, Ryan Reade, had noticed a lump on El Moussa’s neck, and strongly encouraged him to seek medical advice on it: “This is not a joke. He needs to get it checked out.”
El Moussa’s sharing about his cancer diagnoses. Source: Instagram/@therealtarekelmoussa
El Moussa attributed his survival to the email. Initially, he had already had the lump checked out by his doctor, who had told him not to worry, and provided him with “nose spray and allergy medicine” to treat the lump. After receiving his fan’s warning, he sought a second opinion.
The second doctor called for a biopsy, with results that came back as “atypical”. He needed to undergo an exploratory surgery before he was finally diagnosed with stage 3 thyroid cancer that had spread to his lump nodes. To treat his thyroid cancer, El Moussa underwent surgery to remove both his thyroid and lymph nodes.
El Moussa’s second cancer diagnosis
After El Moussa’s thyroid cancer diagnosis, he was worried that his doctors had potentially missed out on other signs of health issues. With help from his now-ex-wife and ‘Flip or Flop’ co-star, Christina Haack, he went through his old medical records, in search of anything else that stood out. After finding an irregular testicular exam, he pursued further testing.
Two months after his thyroid cancer diagnosis, El Moussa underwent an ultrasound test to check his testicles. The technician had started acting nervous during the test, raising fears that something was wrong.
"A half hour later, they tell me I have cancer and try to sign me up for surgery," El Moussa shared.
El Moussa was diagnosed with his second cancer, testicular cancer, at age 31. At that point, he had just had his first child with his co-star, Christina Haack.
According to him, "The scariest part for me was not knowing if I was going to live or die, because at the time I was young, 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."
When El Moussa told HGTV the news, he was offered a chance to end the show – but he was firmly against the thought of it. According to him “My response was, ‘The show’s not done. We’re gonna film my a** rolling into the surgery. I’m gonna film until the end.”
El Moussa’s cancer treatment
After El Moussa’s cancer diagnoses, he had to follow a strict diet before starting his treatments. Before his radioactive iodine treatment and surgery, he could only eat specific foods, and had to avoid any food with iodine (commonly found in seaweed, seafood, eggs, dairy products and chicken).
After receiving surgery and radioactive iodine therapy, El Moussa successfully beat both his cancers in 2019.
Moving forward: Life after cancer
"Man, cancer is a scary word. And when you're facing cancer, you know there's always that potential of death," said El Moussa, "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."
It’s been over 13 years since El Moussa was first diagnosed in 2013, and the TV personality continues to advocate for cancer awareness by sharing his cancer story.
In 2020, he shared with the Movember Foundation, “It’s one of those things where if I don’t tell anyone about it, I’m not really helping anybody. It gives me an opportunity to help someone. And I am continually amazed at all the messages I receive from people explaining that after hearing my story, they went to the doctor and got something checked and it turned out it was cancer.”