Christina Haack knows a thing or two about the challenges of navigating a public split, so she has advice for fellow HGTV stars Jen Hatmaker and Brandon Hatmaker amid their divorce drama.
“My publicist [and] my best friend is right here [and] what she taught me at the beginning is, you got you have to ignore it,” Haack, 42, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, October 1, of the wisdom she’s learned after experiencing three public divorces.
Haack, who has just launched her own champagne brand, Clé Cachée, explained that you have to “shut up” and take a step back when your relationship becomes headline-worthy.
“If you buy into it, no matter how much you’re hurting, no matter how much you want your story out there, like, it’ll never end,” she revealed. “So I think my best advice is to, like, just try to stay in your tight knit group and literally, do not Google. Don’t read the comments.”
Haack added, “I feel very bad for them,” confessing that it’s “so hard to go through that publicly.”
Fans were introduced to Jen, 51, and Brandon, 53, when their short-lived HGTV series My Big Family Renovation premiered in 2014. The show lasted two seasons, but left an impression on viewers, who continued to follow the family’s story.
The former couple, who founded Austin New Church in 2008, welcomed five children — Jen gave birth to three and the pair adopted two more kids — during their 26-year marriage. They surprised fans in 2020 when Jen announced they were getting divorced.
Christina Haack’s Son Said She Makes ‘Bad Choices’ With Men After 3rd Divorce
Last month, Jen expanded on the reasoning behind their split in her new book, Awake, claiming Brandon was unfaithful.
Jen alleged in the book that in July 2020 she woke up at 2 a.m. and heard Brandon on the phone with another woman. In that moment, she realized he was cheating and immediately told him it was over.
“To some degree, I almost disassociated,” Jen told The New York Post on September 21. “It was so outside the realm of what I would have ever considered a possibility for our life, our marriage, our story.”
Jen claimed in her memoir that after digging through Brandon’s computer that same night she found a “trail of betrayal,” which allegedly proved he’d been having affairs for a “devastating time span.”
“There were a lot of unaccounted absences, and the phone was never ever, ever, ever out of his hand or sight,” Jen alleged. “All the warning signs were there, but I did not want to face those.”
Who Is HGTV’s Brandon Hatmaker’s Wife Tina? What to Know After Jen Divorce
Following the release of her book, Brandon spoke out about his ex-wife’s allegations and shared his side of the story.
“There are no excuses. But I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to have an affair. I didn’t fall out of love overnight,” he wrote in a lengthy September statement via Substack. “Our love was coming to a slow and painful ending. And I privately mourned the death of our marriage years before our divorce.”
HGTV Orders Over 100 Episodes of New, Returning Shows After Cancellations
Brandon noted that he “lost [his] anchor, felt no hope and was the loneliest [he’d] ever been” when he strayed from his marriage.
That being said, he told his fans, “I’ve owned my mistakes, I’ve made amends, I continue to do the work, I’ve worked hard to restore relationships, and I’ve started over.”
Brandon added via a Friday, September 26, Substack that he is no longer “addressing the details” of his past marriage and infidelity. “It’s time to close that chapter,” he wrote.
HGTV’s Jen, Brandon Hatmaker’s Relationship Timeline Before Cheating Claims
Despite rehashing their breakup over the past week, Brandon and Jen have moved on romantically following their split. Brandon is married to Tina Hatmaker and Jen is dating Tyler Merritt, whom she met in 2021.
Haack, for her part, is no stranger to getting divorced while living in the spotlight. She split from husband Tarek El Moussa in 2016 after being married seven years. The exes share daughter Taylor, 15, and son Brayden, 10, and currently costar on HGTV’s The Flip Off alongside Tarek’s wife, Heather Rae El Moussa.
Haack was married to Ant Anstead from December 2018 to September 2020. The pair share one son, 6-year-old Hudson. Haack’s third marriage to Joshua Hall ended in July 2024 after three years. They finalized their divorce in May.
Haack is now dating Christopher LaRocca and has manifested a season of happiness, which includes the launch of her champagne, Clé Cachée.
“I’m about manifesting,” Haack told Us on Wednesday when talking about the inspiration behind her label’s name, which means “hidden key.” She explained, “It’s basically finding your hidden potential within and just celebrating.”
Christina Haack Says It’s ‘Much Easier’ Filming New Show Without Josh Hall
Haack noted that she went to France to pick the region, grapes and taste for her champagne, which she describes as the “perfect” bottle.
“I’m a champagne girl, and I think once you try it, you’re going to appreciate it. It’s from the Grand Cru region, which is the most prestigious region in all France, as far as grapes,” she said. “It’s a Blanc de Blancs. It is naturally sweet, so it has a very low dosage sugar content, which is less than five grams for the whole bottle. So basically, one Starburst.”
The bottle costs $100 and according to Haack will leave you with “no hangover” unlike most champagne.
Learn more about Clé Cachée on the official website.
