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Christina Haack claims her son, Brayden, shaded her “bad choices” in the months that followed her divorce from third husband Josh Hall.
In an interview, the 42-year-old Flip or Flop alum reflected on the red flags that arose in the early moments of her relationship with Josh, 45, confirmed she turned down his first proposal, and revealed if she and new boyfriend Christoper Larocca are discussing a potential engagement. Plus, Christina explained how her children, including 15-year-old daughter Taylor, reacted to her and Josh’s 2024 split and their less-than-three-year marriage.
“When we first split up, Brayden, my [now] 10-year-old, he slept in bed with me,” Christina told Us Weekly on October 1.
According to Christina, Brayden, who she shares with ex-husband Tarek El Moussa, 44, is an “old soul” and “[spoke] life into [her]” after her and Josh’s breakup, telling her how “wonderful” she was.
“It was so sweet. He was just like, ‘You’re a wonderful mom, you’re a great person. You’re, like, amazing, you just make really bad choices in men,’” Christina shared. “He said, ‘Dad’s the best, but you make bad choices.’”
Prior to her and Josh calling it quits, Christina said her and Tarek’s children, as well as her youngest son, six-year-old Hudson, who she shares with her second ex-husband, Ant Anstead, 46, knew they were headed for divorce and compared their relationship to that of Tarek and Heather El Moussa, 38.
“The kids would bring it up to me,” she recalled. “They’d be like, you know, ‘Dad and [his wife] Heather hold hands. Dad and Heather are cuddly, like, you guys don’t like each other. You guys never hug. You don’t hold hands, like, you don’t even look at each other like you like each other.’ That’s a really sad thing to hear. And I’m like, ‘What am I doing showing them that this is normal? Like, I’m not happy, and they can see that.’ It’s such a lesson.”
“It’s not like I missed [the red flags],” Christina continued. “It’s just like whatever’s happening in my own life, and there’s a lot of chaos in this industry and world, and I think I just was swept up in so much that for whatever reason, at that time, whatever I was going through, I chose to ignore them.”
Following her split from Josh last year, Christina moved on with Christopher, whom she’s been dating since last fall.
“Nice people still exist. We all experience it, and there can be a lot of scary individuals out there that don’t have your best interest, and especially in this world,” she said. “So I would say I got lucky meeting him, but I definitely deserved to meet him, and he’s definitely just changed my life for the better.”
During another interview, Christina looked back on her denial of Josh’s first proposal.
“The first time he proposed I said no, and he threw the ring in the pool,” Christina shared with PEOPLE on October 1. “That was probably red flag number one. I don’t think anyone’s ever heard that story before … [but] it’s true.”
While Josh had decorated the pool area at her then-home before popping the question, Christina didn’t think the timing was right.
“We weren’t getting along super great even then, off and on. When things were good, they were good, but it just felt like I wasn’t quite ready and so I just said, ‘This is not the right time,'” she explained. “I don’t remember exactly what I said, but he had the patio decorated and he threw it in the pool.”
Ultimately, Christina and Josh became engaged after just six months of dating and got married soon after.
“The quick courting and all those things, that’s sort of what I was used to and it didn’t even feel right then,” Christina noted. “I learned to protect myself, my children, my finances, and I also truly, I don’t think until this divorce, I learned how much I appreciate peace, freedom, quiet, chill.”
As Christina focuses on her growing business and romance with Chris, she confirmed she’s in no rush to walk down the aisle for a fourth time.
“We’re not even discussing getting married. We’re not discussing getting engaged,” she revealed. “We’re taking things slow. I promise.”
In response to Christina’s claims about Josh’s initial proposal, his rep issued a statement, saying, “Josh has no clue what Christina is talking about.”