The finale of HGTV’s drama-filled competition series “The Flip Off” featured the “real king of flipping,” according to Christina Haack, who got to choose the judge for the last episode, which aired on March 5, 2025.
Haack convinced interior designer Jeff Lewis, who starred on Bravo’s “Flipping Out” for 11 seasons, to appear on the show decide who won the final challenge of the season — Haack and her creative partners or her first husband Tarek El Moussa and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa.
Throughout the finale, Haack teased her ex-husband about all the times he’s claimed to be the “king of house flipping” by reminding him that Lewis was the “OG house flipper” and actually deserved that title.
“This judge in particular is gonna rattle Tarek and he’s someone I’ve wanted to have as a judge the entire time,” Haack told producers early in the episode. “The true king of house flipping, not the fake one like Tarek. We used to watch Jeff on ‘Flipping Out’ before Tarek and I even started house flipping.”
Fans have flooded social media with reactions to Lewis’ appearance on the show, including one who tweeted, “Jeff Lewis is Reality TV Gold and I really miss him on my TV. Loved him as a judge on #TheFlipOff.”
SPOILER ALERT: The rest of this article includes spoilers about the season finale of “The Flip Off.”
Jeff Lewis Threw Out the Judging Categories on ‘The Flip Off’ Finale
During the finale, Haack and the El Moussas had just four weeks to transform the exteriors of their houses. Both teams had backyards with pools in terrible condition, and the exteriors of their homes needed facelifts.
As Haack tried to cut corners and save money, hoping to wind up with the highest return on investment ROI) in the end, she spent around $60,000 on her outdoor makeover. The El Moussas had more budget to play with, spending $105,000 on their exterior. After Lewis toured both outdoor transformations, he sat down with Haack and the El Moussas and gave his feedback.
“I think everyone has positives,” he began, and then turned to the El Moussas. “I could compliment you all day on your design. I do think you did a great job on the exterior design. I just think you can’t deny that. I think the surfboards and the rafts and all that was all a little kitschy for me, but it’s cute and I think people are gonna like it. All the details were covered.”
Turning to Haack, he said, “I could compliment you all day on what you’ve done to stretch the dollar, and I can’t even believe you did all this for that tiny amount of money.”
However, Lewis then revealed he was throwing out the usual six categories that other judges have used to assess the weekly winner on “The Flip Off,” telling them, “I don’t believe this is a completely fair competition.”
Lewis reasoned that the El Moussas got a better house with less construction needed. Earlier in the show, Haack told him that her third husband, Josh Hall — with whom she split during the first episode of the season — had convinced her to buy the home for the competition and that she never should have gone along with his plan.
As Tarek began to argue with Lewis, the SiriusXM host interjected, “What you have done in the buy, and I commend you, is you’ve allowed yourself a really nice budget to do all of these incredible design details that you did. But (at Christina’s house), unfortunately, there was a lot of money spent on the infrastructure, and she just didn’t have the money ultimately, in the end, to spend that kind of money on landscaping.”
He then awarded the challenge to the El Moussas, before agreeing to oversee the show’s final and most important challenge as they put their homes on the market to see who had the greatest ROI in the end.
Fans React as Tarek & Heather El Moussa Win ‘The Flip Off’
After both teams managed to sell their homes within 30 days — a feat that Lewis called “incredible” — he joined them at Haack’s home for a finale party with their families, collaborators and past judges. Even Haack’s new beau, Christopher Larocca, was seen standing among the party attendees.
Lewis went over the numbers to reveal which team had the greatest ROI. He revealed that Haack had spent $605,000 to purchase her house, spent $303,000 on renovations, listed the house for $995,000 and wound up getting an offer for $1,125.000. That resulted in a net profit of $217,000, Lewis said, and an ROI of 23.89%.
The El Moussas, meanwhile, bought their house for $710,000, spent $409,000 on renovations, listed the house for $1,499,999, and got an offer for $1,550,000. That resulted in a net profit of $431,000 for the couple and an ROI of 38.51%, making them the clear winners.
Fans have shared lots of opinions about the end result, including one who tweeted, “Not loving the way #TheFlipOff ended. If they do another season, the houses should be similar in square footage in the same neighborhood. Christina’s house was kinda doomed from the beginning because it was so small. She held her own, though, so great job Christina!”
Some were disappointed Haack didn’t win, including one who wrote on Instagram, “No disrespect to Tarek & Heather, their house was pretty. However, Christina your house was a true flip, and you did it by yourself! I love how your style has changed and evolved. You truly did an amazing job. Overall, you were the winner! Keep shining 🙌👏🔥”
Others focused on how much they loved seeing Lewis in his element, including one who wrote on Instagram, “Love your responses Jeff, so funny! We need you back on TV Flipping, please come back!🔥😍”
Lewis did reveal on his radio show in October that he’s working on a new show with Bravo, according to RealityTea.
“We’ve been kind of hinting at the fact that there is a new television show on the horizon, and we have not given any details. I can’t give too many, too many details, but I can tell you a little bit more,” he told listeners. “So, my contract is signed. I am in development right now with Bravo and 32 Flavors Productions on a new show for Bravo,” he continued. “All I can tell you is it’ll be a docuseries. You can kind of think of it like a Flipping Out reboot, Flipping Out 2.0 and I’m really very, very, very excited.”
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Fans React to ‘The Flip Off’ Finale as Jeff Lewis Appears to ‘Rattle’ Tarek El Moussa