Tarek El Moussa opens up about 2016 gun incident that ended marriage to Christina Hall

Tarek El Moussa is opening up about the 2016 gun incident that ended his marriage to ex-wife and "Flip or Flop" co-star Christina Hall.

The home improvement expert, 42, details his version of the terrifying ordeal in his upcoming memoir, "Flip Your Life: How to Find Opportunity in Distress — in Real Estate, Business and Life," out Feb. 6.

Until now, fans have only known that the TV couple's shocking split, which was announced in December 2016, actually happened months earlier after the two argued and El Moussa left their Yorba Linda, California, home with a gun. Worried for her husband's safety, Hall called 911.

In an excerpt of his candid book published by People, the HGTV star, who shares two children with Hall, daughter Taylor, 13, son Brayden, 8, tells readers that he left the couple's home after an argument with Hall that afternoon in 2016. But, he explains, he was craving exercise so he left to walk the trails at Chino Hills State Park, a wilderness area behind couple's home.

Because the area is known for its wildlife, including mountain lions and bobcats, he took his pistol along with his concealed-carry license.

About 30 minutes into his hike, El Moussa was surprised to see a police helicopter swirling over him.

"Then a police officer leaning out of the helicopter pointed a rifle at me. Dust swirled around me from the spin of the blades, and a loudspeaker crackled, 'Get your hands in the air!'" he writes.

The HGTV star was soon surrounded police officers in off-road vehicles with weapons drawn.

After one of the officers called out "Tarek?", El Moussa responded, "Yes! I’m the guy from TV! What are you guys doing?"

The officers lowered their weapons and instructed El Moussa to lie on the ground.

"For the next several hours, I sat on a cooler on my driveway, handcuffed, while the police tried to figure out what was going on... That was the very last time we were together as a family: with Christina walking down the driveway, crying, and me sitting there in hand- cuffs, asking myself, What in the world is going on?" he adds.

A representative for Hall declined to comment on El Moussa's story when asked by TODAY.com.

El Moussa previously addressed the gun incident during a February 2017 visit to TODAY.

Despite their public split, the exes continued to co-star in additional versions of "Flip or Flop" for several years.

El Moussa, who recently revealed he lived in a halfway house after Hall left him, later found love again with “Selling Sunset” star Heather Rae Young, now Heather Rae El Mousssa. The couple tied the knot in 2021 and welcomed a son, Tristan, in January 2023.

Meanwhile, Hall has remarried twice since her divorce from El Moussa. She was married to British TV personality Ant Anstead from 2018 to 2021, welcoming a son named Hudson, 4, in 2020. She later wed Joshua Hall in 2022.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com