• On Thursday, season two of "The Flipping El Moussas" premiered on HGTV.
• Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa flipped a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in Los Angeles.
• The flip took longer than they anticipated, but they still made a profit on the property.

Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae El Moussa are back to flipping houses on HGTV.

In January, the couple will appear in the competition series "The Flip Off" with Tarek's ex, Christina Haack. And on Thursday, season two of Heather and Tarek's show, "The Flipping El Moussas," premiered on HGTV, diving into the couple's house-flipping business.

In the episode, Tarek and Heather flipped a three-bedroom house in Los Angeles that was filled to the brim with trash when they started the project.

• Taylor Swift has become a regular at Kansas City Chiefs games since she started dating Travis Kelce.
• Her NFL style was initially laid-back, as she appeared in simple sports jackets and sweatshirts.
• Now, Swift has leaned into luxury and subtle nods to Kelce for her gameday looks.

Taylor Swift made her NFL debut in September 2023, revealing her romance with Travis Kelce in dramatic fashion by supporting him at a Kansas City Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Over a year later, Swift and Kelce still seem to be going strong, and the singer's gameday fashion continues to make headlines.

From standout $70,000 outfits to forgettable athletic looks, here's a look at everything she's worn in her WAG era, ranked from least to most stylish.

• Shelby Vanhoy has been personalizing her North Carolina home since December 2023.
• She recently decided to break up her open-concept living space with a glass wall.
• Vanhoy said the space is more functional and calming thanks to the change.

Shelby Vanhoy has been in home decor mode for nearly a year now.

Vanhoy, 34, lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband, 2-year-old son, and two dogs. They relocated from New York City to North Carolina in December 2023 to be closer to family.

"My parents are here, and it just makes our life a lot easier," she said of the change.

Vanhoy and her husband became homeowners when they moved back. Since then, Vanhoy, a full-time content creator who runs the blog Pretty in the Pines, has been customizing their four-bedroom home, built in 1988.

She told Business Insider her style leans traditional with a twist.

"Some people say it's 'grand-millennial' with all the mixing of patterns and prints and kind of like grandma vibes," Vanhoy said of her decor style. "I love tying in antiques and vintage furniture and lights to make our house feel older than it actually is."

Vanhoy also said it's important for her home to function for her family — which is how she decided to enclose her open-concept living space.

Open-concept living didn't work for their home

The main floor of Vanhoy's home featured an open-concept space with a kitchen, dining area, and living room, which she wasn't excited about.

"When we bought the house, it was just something that wasn't my first choice," she said.

After they moved into the house, Vanhoy found the open area didn't work for her family.

"It felt very overstimulating," she said. "I would be in the kitchen cooking things, and then the TV room was right beside the kitchen and the whole downstairs. You could just see everything."

"Even decorating it, it felt like everything had to kind of go together because you're looking at everything all at once," she added.

Vanhoy also works from home and doesn't have a designated office space yet.

"I would be working in the dining room, which was connected to the kitchen and the living room, so everything just felt like you were doing so much at one time," she said. "It just didn't feel very calming when you were on that floor."

Vanhoy decided she wanted to separate the living room to section off the space.

A transparent solution

Rather than fully enclosing the living room, Vanhoy decided to add a partial glass wall to her space.

"Our living room is, natural-light-wise, a little dark," Vanhoy told BI. "I did want to add some sort of wall to enclose it a bit, but I didn't want to lose any of the natural light."

The living room also featured glass French doors that Vanhoy loved, so she took inspiration from them.

"We decided to make it glass and make it look kind of like a window while also making it feel like its own separate room," Vanhoy said.

The wall features an archway in the middle, and the sides are enclosed with walls covered in windows.

Vanhoy hired professionals to complete the project, who added wood beams for support and moved a few outlets to make the wall work. The project cost under $6,000.

The space is more functional

Vanhoy said the glass offers the best of both worlds, as it sections off the space without making it impossible for her to see into the living room.

"The best part about it is that it created other little functions, and it made the whole downstairs feel a lot more functional," Vanhoy said, adding that the design also brought character to the space.

"I made a breakfast nook on one side of the wall, so that added a whole other function that we didn't have," she said. "And then we have a little kids' craft table on another side of the wall."

The glass wall isn't complete, as Vanhoy intends to add more ornate molding to the windows for a personal touch.

But it's already changed the way Vanhoy feels about the space.

"I do like seeing through because that room also has a nice fireplace, and I like seeing the fire on," she said. "But at the same time, it just feels totally separated, and light shines through."

"The one downside, I guess, is it's just more windows to clean," she added.

• Skims opened its flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City last week.
• Kim Kardashian launched the brand in 2019, and it was valued at $4 billion in 2023.
• The store matches the monochromatic, modern vibe Kardashian and her team created for Skims.

Valued at $4 billion in 2023, Skims has become a fashion industry staple since Kim Kardashian launched the shapewear brand in 2019.

The brand has expanded from its origins under the leadership of Kardashian and her cofounders, Emma and Jens Grede. In addition to its iconic shapewear, it now sells underwear, activewear, loungewear, swimwear, and men's clothing.

Last week, the brand took another step to becoming a fashion powerhouse by opening a flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

"This flagship is a dream realized for Skims. We've created a space that perfectly embodies our brand and elevates the customer experience," Kardashian said in a press release about the opening shared with Business Insider.

Take a look inside.

• HGTV's "The Flip Off" is premiering on January 29, 2025.
• Christina Haack will compete against Tarek El Moussa and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa.
• Haack's ex, Josh Hall, was originally supposed to star in the show.

"Flip or Flop" stars Christina Haack and Tarek El Moussa are reuniting on HGTV nearly three years after their hit show ended.

"The Flip Off" is a six-episode, competition-style series that will pit Haack against Tarek and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa. It's premiering on HGTV on January 29, 2025.

Haack was originally supposed to team up with Josh Hall on the series, but they suddenly split in July, leaving Haack to compete alone.

Here's everything we know about the show so far.

'The Flip Off' is a competition series

HGTV announced that Tarek El Moussa, Heather Rae El Moussa, Christina Haack, and Josh Hall were filming "The Flip Off" on May 15, describing the series as "a battle to see who can find, buy, renovate, and flip a house for the biggest financial gain."

Tarek and Haack — who were previously married and share two kids — flipped houses together on "Flip or Flop" for nine years, filming the show even after they separated in 2016. The series ended in 2022.

After it wrapped, Tarek continued flipping homes on his other HGTV series, "Flipping 101" and "The Flipping El Moussas." At the same time, Haack turned to renovating homes for clients in "Christina on the Coast" and "Christina in the Country."

They were set to team up with their new spouses for the coming show and harness their years of experience in home flipping to compete against each other.

However, in July, Hall and Haack filed for divorce less than three years after they got married.

HGTV did not immediately announce how the split would impact "The Flip Off," but on July 23, E! News reported that Tarek and Heather told paparazzi "production is still going as planned without Josh" for the series.

On Thursday, HGTV confirmed Haack would do most of the competition alone.

"As 'The Flip Off' begins, Christina will start the competition against Tarek and Heather alongside her husband, but a sudden life change will bring a shocking twist," the network said in a press release. "With even more to prove on her own, Christina will turn to her trusted team, stopping at nothing to silence Tarek's endless bragging and beat him at his own flipping game."

Heather, Tarek, and Haack serve as executive producers on the series.

Haack will discuss her divorce on the show

HGTV released a sneak peek of the series on Thursday. Rather than spotlighting the flipped homes, the clip featured an intimate conversation between Tarek and Haack at her Newport Beach, California, home.

In the clip, Haack told Tarek that her marriage to Hall had ended.

"Josh and I officially split up," she said.

"We had a blowup," she added. "Middle fingers in my face."

Haack also said things with Hall had "been bad for a long time."

"The kids literally asked me to leave," she told Tarek. "They told me he's not nice to me. Why would I stick around?"

"I feel like I'm in a tornado all the time, and I just can't get out of it," she said.

When contacted by Business Insider for this story, a source close to Hall said he "has no public comment on private matters. Once again, Josh has moved on and does not want to live in the past. His life is not a reality show."

In the clip, Haack and Tarek's conversation turned to her life since they separated in 2016, and the exes apologized to each other.

"Everything since, like, 2016 has been so hard and so horrible," Haack said as she cried. "It's really taken a really bad toll on me."

"I'm really sorry for shit, too," she said to Tarek. "I really am. I just want you to know."

"I understand that feeling of being a little bit lost," Tarek said. "And I acknowledge that I'm a big part, if not the entire part, of all of this."

Other reality stars — including another of Haack's exes — will appear on the show

Haack and the El Moussas will renovate one room of their chosen properties in each episode of "The Flip Off," a format borrowed from other HGTV series like "Rock the Block" and "Barbie Dreamhouse Challenge."

The El Moussas and Haack also tapped their celebrity community to judge their renovations.

According to HGTV, the El Moussas and Haack will "take turns handpicking special guest judges to evaluate the transformed rooms based on design, use of space, quality of work, overall transformation, and added value." Each week's winner will get a $2,000 prize from the losing team to use in the following challenge.

The judges include other reality TV stars, such as Amanza Smith from "Selling Sunset" and Heather Dubrow from "The Real Housewives of Orange County," as well as Tarek and Haack's mothers, Dominique El Moussa and Laurie Haack.

The most notable guest judge might be Haack's other ex-husband, Ant Anstead. They were married from December 2018 to June 2021.

Haack and Anstead's relationship was frosty following their divorce, particularly in April 2022 when they had a dramatic custody battle over their 5-year-old son, Hudson. They were able to reach a joint custody agreement in November 2022.

The strain on their relationship seems to have mended in recent months, with Haack re-following Anstead on Instagram in August and telling Backgrid she wants to "get along" with Anstead for Hudson's sake, People reported.

On November 7, Anstead was photographed on the set of "The Flip Off" with Haack, fueling rumors he was replacing Hall on the series. However, as a judge, he will likely only be in one episode of the show.

The two-hour premiere of "The Flip Off" airs on January 29 at 8 p.m.

• Taylor Swift has been making bold fashion statements for over a decade.
• For performances, the singer often wears sparkly rompers and sheer dresses.
• And on the red carpet, Swift isn't afraid to wear gowns with plunging necklines or daring slits.

Over the past few years, Taylor Swift has solidified her status as a powerhouse in the music industry.

From her massive Eras Tour and accompanying film to her record-breaking fourth album of the year Grammy win, Swift's influence is nearly unmatched following the release of her 11th studio album, "The Tortured Poets Department."

Though music is her bread and butter, Swift also holds sway in the fashion world, helping small brands make massive sales simply by wearing one of their designs. 

Her style has changed throughout her decade-plus in the public eye, and she has been experimenting with daring fashion more and more often in recent years.

Take a look at some of her most daring looks to date. 

• Christina and Josh Hall are getting divorced less than three years after they got married.
• Josh was Christina's third husband, as she was previously married to two other HGTV stars.
• In a clip of "The Flip Off," Christina shared details of their split with Tarek El Moussa.

When Christina Hall celebrated her marriage to Josh Hall in September 2022, she said she was more certain than ever her life was on track.

In a deleted Instagram post, Christina wrote, "Everything in life has led me to where I am right now, which is exactly where I want to be."

Less than three years after they were legally wed, the Halls have both filed for divorce, and Christina has deleted nearly all traces of Josh from her social media.

Before their split, Christina and Josh were supposed to film a new HGTV series, "The Flip Off," with Christina's ex, Tarek El Moussa, and his wife, Heather Rae El Moussa.

In a new clip of the series, which will premiere on January 29, 2025, Christina gets emotional and tearfully tells Tarek about her breakup with Josh, revealing that their children asked her to leave him.

Business Insider broke down the timeline of Josh and Christina's relationship, their sudden separation, and how the split impacts them professionally.

When contacted for this story, a spokesperson for Josh told BI, "Josh Hall has no comment about this matter. He hopes to resolve these matters in private, not through the press."

A representative for Christina declined to comment.

Christina and Josh first became romantically involved in the spring of 2021

According to US Weekly, Christina and Josh first met at a real-estate conference sometime in the late 2010s, but they didn't start dating until the spring of 2021.

Christina was married to her "Flip or Flop" costar, Tarek El Moussa, from 2009 to 2018, and they had two children together — Taylor and Brayden — before they separated in 2016. She married Ant Anstead at the end of 2018, and they welcomed their son Hudson together before they split in September 2020.

Christina and Josh did not initially announce they were dating, but she shared a photo they took together in March 2021 on her Instagram in March of the following year, confirming they were an item by sometime that spring.

Page Six photographed them together publicly in July 2021. On the same day the photos were published, Christina addressed their relationship in a now-deleted Instagram post, saying she wanted to keep it private from the media.

"I met Josh when I wasn't in a state of fear or fight-or-flight," she captioned the post. "When we met this past spring, the synchronicities hit us so hard and fast they were impossible to ignore. I felt immediately crazy protective over him and wanted to keep him for myself and get to know each other before the tornado (media attention) hit."

"We decided whats in the past, is in the past. We aren't looking at all the nonsense online," she added. "So yes 'another relationship' and guess what. I'm 38 – I'll do what I want."

The couple continued their relationship in the public eye, announcing in September 2021 that they were engaged with Instagram photos Christina shared from a trip they took to Mexico.

They shared that they got married in April 2022

Christina and Josh continued to share peeks at their life together on social media throughout the rest of 2021.

Representatives for the Halls confirmed Christina and Josh were married on April 5, 2022, after Christina changed her last name on social media from Haack, her maiden name, to Hall.

However, according to documents reviewed by BI, both Josh and Christina listed their marriage date as October 6, 2021, when they filed for divorce in July, indicating they were married before publicly sharing the news.

The Halls bought a $12 million mansion in Newport Beach, California, in May 2022, which Christina called their "long-term family home" in a since-deleted Instagram.

In September of the same year, they celebrated their marriage with a second wedding in Maui, Hawaii, surrounded by family and friends.

Josh became more involved in Christina's professional life throughout their relationship

In March 2022, Christina announced on Instagram in a now-deleted post that she and Josh were forming their own production company, Unbroken Productions. The name appeared to be a nod to Josh's Instagram, which has the handle @unbrokenjosh.

The company took over production of "Christina on the Coast" starting with season four and produced "Christina in the Country," both of which air on HGTV. Josh has appeared in both shows.

Speaking to BI in July 2023, Christina said it was an adjustment to be a producer because she had worked with her previous production company for a decade.

"It was a lot more work for me than anything in the past because we're co-producers. It's a lot more off-camera work than I'm used to," she said. "It's gonna be worth it, but it was a hard year."

Then, on May 15, HGTV announced Christina and Josh would star in a new series called "The Flip Off" with Tarek and Heather.

In its announcement, HGTV said the show would feature couples competing against each other in "a battle to see who can find, buy, renovate, and flip a house for the biggest financial gain."

The couple separated in July, and Josh filed for divorce first

According to paperwork reviewed by BI on July 17, Josh filed for divorce from Christina on July 12, listing their date of separation as July 8. He requested spousal support in his petition.

Christina deleted several posts that featured Josh from her Instagram when news of their separation went public on July 16, and she submitted a response and her own request for the dissolution of their marriage on July 23.

Christina listed their separation date as July 7, a day earlier than Josh did. Along with her divorce filing, she filed a request for order asking the court to grant her sole access to their Newport Beach home and two properties in Tennessee immediately.

Christina said she wanted sole access to the Newport Beach home primarily to protect her children.

"I do not want to have a situation where there is a misunderstanding or any conflict, especially in front of my children," she said in her filing.

In the RFO, Christina said that although the Newport Beach home is legally owned by both herself and Josh, it was purchased with money from the sale of her previous residence in Dana Point, California.

She added that Josh came to the home unscheduled and "took items" after their separation on July 7 and that he plugged in security cameras Christina intentionally unplugged per a request from his lawyer.

"Josh's attorney sent a letter demanding that I preserve electronic evidence without it being automatically deleted, so I unplugged cameras so the system would not automatically overwrite the hard drive," Christina wrote in her filing. "Each time Josh has returned to the house he has plugged the cameras back in, which would allow him to keep me and my children under surveillance. I object to him having that access into my home."

Christina also asked the court to make Josh return $35,000 to her

Christina asked the court to instruct Josh to return $35,000 that she said he transferred on July 8 "without my authorization" to the personal account he used before their marriage.

"On July 21, 2024, I learned that on July 8, 2024, which is the day after I communicated to Josh that I would be filing for dissolution, Josh contacted my professional property manager via text and stated 'Hi. For June payments, can we please get it sent to a different account when it's time? Thank you,'" she said, attaching a screenshot of the message to the filing.

"The statement 'can we please' is not accurate as I had no personal contact with Josh on July 8, 2024," Christina said in the RFO. "I would not have asked him to send himself my money the day after I told him we are getting divorced."

Christina also addressed Josh's request for spousal support in her RFO.

"I understand that at some point this Court may require that I pay some spousal support to Josh and reasonable attorney's fees to his counsel," she wrote. "However, it is my belief that this is a simple case with straightforward accounting over a short time period, any fees and costs should be minimal."

"Like all hard-working mothers, my life revolves around my children and my work," she continued. "It is my understanding that Josh has his own income and therefore he should not need any spousal support from me. He has sufficient assets of his own to pay his own attorney's fees and costs."

She said she was "shocked and concerned" that he transferred $35,000 of her "separate property money" to his personal account.

"The fact that this is the same date he now alleges to be our date of separation, even though it is actually July 07, 2024, makes it clear why he chose the next day," Christina said. "It makes me wonder what else I am not aware of as it relates to his financial situation and that is why I am having a full forensic accounting performed for the entire term of our marriage."

Christina opened up about the separation on social media

Christina shared a series of Instagram stories about her separation from Josh on July 25 and 26.

"Over here waiting for the typical Hired PR speech of 'how I was blindsided and how I'm working on myself and I'm taking time to heal at her ranch,'" Christina wrote in her story on July 25. "Meanwhile I'm over here not as nice and quiet as I used to be."

"I have worked my ass off to build this life for myself and my children and anyone who would try and take what they do not deserve/what they did NOT work for should be ashamed. An insecure man with a large ego can sure try and derail you — but 'still I rise,'" she said, appearing to quote Maya Angelou. "For those that aren't aware…divorces do not happen overnight.. & there is always a breaking point. This one is personal."

Then, on July 26, Christina responded to a TMZ article that quoted "a source close to" Josh. The unnamed source told the outlet that Josh was "blindsided" when Christina said she wanted a divorce and that she "stopped speaking to him after a disagreement."

Christina said in her post that Josh had not tried to contact her.

"I didn't block him — and I didn't see any missed calls or texts the next day," Christina wrote in her story. "Which happened to be my birthday. Strange – No flowers, no cards, no messages like 'Hope you have a nice birthday.'"

"Something's not adding up here," she added. "But I'm down to keep playing 'Christina Vs. The Victim' as I love this game."

She also responded to a separate TMZ article about the $35,000 Josh transferred to his account. TMZ reported that "a source close to Josh" said he transferred the money to pay bills "for their rental properties, which they co-owned."

Christina said she was the sole owner of the property in question.

"Pretty sure I bought this before I met you and a 1031 exchange," she wrote on Instagram. "Handled the bills? Like paid for them with your money? Uhh ya nooo. Def not."

On August 2, Josh shared a now-deleted photo of himself with his dog on Instagram, saying in the caption that he would "not publicly badmouth anyone" amid the divorce.

"I prefer privacy, especially during something as life-changing as a divorce I did not ask for," he wrote in his caption, appearing to confirm Christina requested their separation. "I will not publicly badmouth anyone, as people have families, friends, and others who respect and love them. Unfortunately, the internet is forever."

"We are real humans, this is our life and I am not here to entertain people I don't know with my private matters," Josh said. "Those details will be handled fairly behind closed doors with our respective counsels in due time. Those who know each of us, know who we are."

Josh also removed posts related to "The Flip Off" from his Instagram.

Josh questioned Christina's narrative in his response

Josh filed a response to Christina's RFO on August 29, though it appears he signed the document on August 15. In the response reviewed by BI, Josh said he was "generally unopposed to the relief Christina has requested.''

But he also accused Christina of using "scorched-earth divorce tactics." In his response, Josh said he did not transfer the $35,000 for his personal use, instead using it to manage their Franklin, Tennessee, property. However, he said a separate property manager handles day-to-day activities at the home.

"I made this request because I needed access to the rental income so I could continue to pay ongoing expenses and responsibilities related to the properties, which I directly handle," he said, pointing to expenses like paying housekeepers or internet services.

He also said he transferred the money after Christina removed his access to their joint American Express account and his access to his LLC account for their rental properties on July 7.

Josh also denied plugging in the cameras at the Newport Beach home after Christina disconnected them. In addition, he said he only went to the property twice in July to retrieve personal items. When he was there on July 15, he said he was "confronted by Christina and two of her friends."

"They proceeded to follow me around while recording me with their cellphones," he said in his response. "Christina began making financial threats toward me, demanding to know how much money I intend to 'steal' from her as part of a settlement in our case."

Josh's response also said that he went to the Newport home on August 2 to retrieve the remainder of his personal belongings, which he and Christina agreed upon through their lawyers.

"When I arrived on this date, Christina had notified the paparazzi, who were waiting for me outside the home," Josh said in his response. "Christina then spread lies through the press that she did 'not know' I would be coming to the house on that date. This can be disproved through documented communications between our lawyers, which I have reviewed."

"Unfortunately, Christina has continued to litigate our divorce case through the media, while I just wish to reach an amicable resolution, devoid of the tabloid drama," Josh said.

People published photos of Josh at the Newport Beach home, but the piece states the photos were taken on August 4, not August 2, as Josh's response states.

The court ordered Josh to return Christina's $35,000 — but also ordered her to pay him $100,000

A stipulation and order filed on September 4 temporarily resolved Christina's RFO and Josh's response before their divorce hearing on October 8.

The order granted Christina exclusive access to the Newport Beach and Nashville properties while allowing Josh to use their Franklin, Tennessee, home when short-term renters do not occupy it. It also gave Christina exclusive ownership over both their California and Tennessee LLCs.

The stipulation said that Josh would return "the remaining funds in his possession" of the $35,000 he transferred to his account on July 8 and provide Christina with his accounting information for that date.

In addition, Christina agreed to send Josh $100,000 as an "uncharacterized and unallocated sum" within 48 hours of the document's filing. The stipulation says he can use the money "for any purpose, including his interim financial needs as well as attorney's fees, costs and forensic accounting fees."

The Halls had three hearings in October regarding their divorce, with Josh attempting to block Christina's sale of their Franklin, Tennessee home. On November 13, People reported that Christina had taken the home back off the market.

Christina's ex Ant Anstead is appearing on 'The Flip Off'

Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa told paparazzi in July that "production is still going as planned without Josh" for "The Flip Off," according to E! News.

In his response filed on August 29, Josh said he believes Christina "is also seeking to have me removed from a contractual agreement we entered into for the production of a new HGTV show, 'The Flip Off.'"

On Thursday, HGTV confirmed that Christina went forward competing against Heather and Tarek solo after she and Josh split.

Christina, Tarek, and Heather continued to share promos for the series without Josh throughout the fall. On November 7, Christina was photographed on the set of "The Flip Off" with her ex-husband Ant Anstead.

Christina and Anstead were estranged after their separation, going through a tumultuous custody battle over their son Hudson in 2022. But the pair seem to be on better terms following her split from Josh, with Christina re-following Anstead on Instagram in August, according to People. The outlet also reported that Christina told Backgrid she thinks Hudson "deserves" for his parents to "get along."

Christina also said it would be a "genius 'ratings' idea" to have Anstead on the series after a fan suggested he replace Josh in the comments of one of her Instagram posts in August.

HGTV also confirmed on Thursday that Anstead would appear on the series as a judge, along with other home improvement and reality stars like Amanza Smith from "Selling Sunset."

Christina said Josh was 'insecure' in a November interview

Despite the uncertainty surrounding "The Flip Off," Josh did appear in the season two premiere of HGTV's "Christina in the Country" on November 12. The series, which the Halls co-produced, was filmed before he and Christina separated.

The first episode of season two opened with the then-couple speaking at their Newport Beach home, deciding to head to Franklin, Tennessee, for a bit so Christina could renovate some home. They also looked at a house to flip together and decided to buy it as they chatted at a restaurant in the episode.

Christina posted about the season premiere on Instagram but didn't mention Josh as she shared her excitement for the season.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight that aired on November 15, Christina said she "did not enjoy" filming with her ex when discussing "The Flip Off," saying she was glad he was no longer part of the series.

"It was not fun, to be honest," Christina said of filming with Josh. "I did not enjoy filming with him. So having split up made this, to be honest, so much easier."

Christina said "the show would have been hard to film" if she and Josh had stayed together partly because of his "jealousy over Tarek."

Heather echoed Christina's sentiments in a separate interview with ET.

"I don't want to be mean, but it was kind of nice to see him go," Heather said of Josh. Tarek added that Christina seems to have "recovered" from the split.

"Her energy is back," he said. "She's happy. She's excited about life. She's doing good."

Christina also said in her ET interview that Josh being "insecure" caused problems in their relationship.

"When someone is insecure by you and doesn't like to watch you win, that really, like, puts a damper on everything," Christina said.

"I feel like I was not shining as bright to try to not make him feel emasculated," she added. "Who wants to live like that?"

She also told ET she had been telling Josh for "at least a year" that "things were bad" despite his assertion that he was "blindsided" by their separation.

"For someone who says she moved on from Josh, Christina can't stop bringing him up," a source familiar with Josh told BI of the interview. "Josh has tried to move on with his life and has asked to keep the divorce private. Josh has no desire to play into any of this."

Christina opened up to Tarek about the split on 'The Flip Off'

HGTV announced on Thursday that "The Flip Off" will premiere on January 29, sharing a photo of Tarek, Heather, and Christina on Instagram.

The network also released a clip of the series ahead of its premiere, in which Christina shares with Tarek on camera that she and Josh broke up.

The scene appeared to be filmed at Christina's Newport Beach home, and she told Tarek after he arrived: "Josh and I officially split up."

She details the breakup to him, saying she and Josh had a "blow up" fight during which he put his "middle fingers" in her face.

A source close to Josh said he "has no public comment on private matters. Once again, Josh has moved on and does not want to live in the past. His life is not a reality show."

In her conversation with Tarek, Christina said that she and Josh had been struggling "for a long time." She also told him their children spoke to her about the relationship.

"The kids literally asked me to leave," Christina told Tarek. "They told me he's not nice to me. Why would I stick around?"

"I feel like I'm in a tornado all the time, and I just can't get out of it," she added.

Christina also seemed to reflect on the ups and downs of her life since she and Tarek separated in 2016 during the conversation.

"Everything since, like, 2016 has been so hard and so horrible," she said through tears. "It's really taken a really bad toll on me."

"I'm really sorry for shit, too," she told Tarek. "I really am. I just want you to know."

"I understand that feeling of being a little bit lost," Tarek responded. "And I acknowledge that I'm a big part, if not the entire part, of all of this."

• People often purchase luxury jewelry during the holiday season.
• Classic jewelers like Cartier and David Yurman are still popular.
• "It girls" also love brands like Retrouvaí, Jacquie Aiche, and Anita Ko.

Fine jewelry often ends up at the top of people's holiday wish lists. I mean, singer Eartha Kitt famously begged Santa for a ring — and she did not mean on the phone.

Whether you're hoping someone will buy you something sparkly for the holidays or planning to splurge on someone you love, you'll want to know where "it girls" have been shopping for their jewelry lately.

Check out some luxury jewelry brands celebrities and influencers haven't stopped shopping at this year.

• The Miss America Organization is in a legal battle just weeks before the 2025 competition.
• CEO Robin Fleming sued Glenn F. Straub on November 28, as both say they own the organization.
• Straub filed for bankruptcy for Miss America, complicating the ownership dispute.

Miss America 2025 is just weeks away, and a legal battle over who owns the organization is playing out behind the scenes.

The 103-year-old competition has had several leadership controversies in the last decade, but this matter centers on Robin Fleming and Glenn F. Straub, who both purport to own Miss America.

In a sweeping, 32-cause complaint obtained by Business Insider, Fleming accused Straub, his lawyer, his company, and one of his employees of fraud, defamation, and trademark infringement.

Her lawsuit came days after Straub filed for bankruptcy on November 22. In a letter to Miss America board members, Straub wrote that Fleming was using the organization's scholarship fund to pay her legal fees, which was "putting Miss America in financial and legal jeopardy." He also said that the 2025 competition, scheduled for December 31 to January 3, will continue as planned.

Fleming said in her complaint that Straub's bankruptcy filing was fraudulent because he does not own the organization and Miss America Corporation, LLC, has no debt. She said Straub was attempting to sow "further chaos and confusion" amid their legal battle.

She told BI on Thursday that "Miss America has always been an activist" and believes "justice will prevail" in her case. "I just feel very strongly that this is a case about standing up and having your voice heard," she added.

"Robin Fleming's Miss America competition is going strong and will be fully successful," her attorney Gene Rossi said in a statement to BI. "Mr. Straub's litigation tricks are nothing more than shiny objects. All sound and fury with no meaning."

When asked for comment on this story, a representative for Straub pointed BI to the court's decision on Wednesday to dismiss Fleming's case without prejudice because of its length. The order allows Fleming to refile her complaint before December 20, which she told BI on Thursday that she intends to do.

Here's a timeline of all the legal drama detailed by Fleming and Straub's complaints.

2021: Robin Fleming and Glenn Straub connected

Fleming, who told BI she's in her 50s, and Straub, 78, briefly met at a charity event in 2008. Still, the two formed a professional friendship in 2021 at Palm Beach Polo Country Club, a luxury gated community in Florida that Straub owned and where Fleming was a resident.

Straub "presented as a wealthy and elderly man in his mid-70s keenly interested in her passion for businesses that empowered women and her passion for the pageant industry."

Summer 2022: Fleming tried to buy the Miss Universe Organization

Straub offered to finance the $20 million purchase of the Miss Universe Organization with Fleming "as owner and him as banker."

Fleming agreed to the proposition and made her interest known to the organization, providing Straub's name after it requested a call with her banker. The call never occurred, and it was announced in October 2022 that the Miss Universe Organization had been sold to Anne Jakrajutatip.

Fleming learned in 2024 that the Miss Universe Organization ceased its negotiations with her after learning Straub, according to her suit, had "allegedly choked a 22-year-old young woman in 2012 at a polo match."

Straub was arrested and charged with criminal battery. He filed a civil action against the woman for libel and slander. Both the civil and criminal cases were dismissed and closed.

September 15, 2022: Straub asked Fleming to be "friends with benefits."

During dinner together, Straub asked Fleming if they could become "friends with benefits."

Fleming texted Straub the following day, saying, "I like our relationship exactly as it is, fun business chatter/ambitions with a smattering of humor… I am too conservative for anything else."

Straub replied, "Check," and "never asked the question again."

December 30, 2022: Fleming purchased Miss America.

Fleming said she bought Miss America's assets on behalf of Miss America Competition, LLC and Miss America IP, Inc., using three documents created by Straub's attorney, Craig Galle, who she used at Straub's suggestion.

Shantel Krebs signed one of the agreements on December 30, officially selling the organization's assets to Fleming.

Straub's company paid off a Small Business Administration loan for Miss America to help the purchase proceed, his only official role in the acquisition.

Fleming also said she attended the closing meeting alone.

2022 - March 2024: Fleming appeared to operate Miss America without incident

Following the acquisition, Fleming said that Krebs and the Miss America board formally welcomed her as the organization's "new owner" and publicly referred to her as its CEO at events and in the media.

Fleming said she operated as Miss America's CEO and owner for over a year without complaints from Straub.

In a January 2024 text included in the suit, Straub asked Fleming how he should introduce himself as the Miss America 2024 pageant, suggesting "banker."

That same month, according to the lawsuit, Straub attacked a talent judge at Miss America 2024 because he was a Black man talking to a white woman.

Straub admitted in texts to Fleming that the attack was racially motivated, her suit states.

March 15-16, 2024: Straub told Fleming he was "shutting down Miss America"

Straub's threat came a day after Fleming declined to serve as his proxy in a lawsuit against board members of their gated community.

Straub told Fleming he wanted to end Miss America because she "cannot be controlled" and the organization is a "waste of time." He also said Fleming was a "failure," "over the hill," and that he would bring her children into the "public humiliation" and send letters to all the Miss America state directors saying she was mentally ill.

The following day, Straub sent Fleming a letter notifying her of her "Temporary Suspension and Investigation" by the "Miss America Competitions, LLC." Fleming said the letterhead featured typos in both the company name and the spelling of Fleming's name.

Fleming said Straub also threatened to tie her up in "three years of civil litigation" unless she gave him "total control of Miss America" and promised to "always be subservient" to him.

April 12, 2024: Straub gave Fleming what she says is a fraudulent Operating Agreement for Miss America Competition, LLC.

Fleming said Straub presented three different versions of the document created by Galle and dated December 28, 2022, between April and August.

Her legal team said metadata for one of the documents indicated it was created on August 25, 2023.

April 15, 2024: Straub tried to fire Fleming.

Fleming's suit said Straub texted her on April 12 to tell her she was fired as Miss America's CEO.

It added that he intended to email the Miss America state directors and tell them she was stealing money from the organization, which Fleming said was defamatory.

Her suit also states that he sent her a "Termination Notice" on April 15, which Fleming rejected in a written statement on April 16.

April 25, 2024: Straub filed a lawsuit against Fleming in Palm Beach, Florida.

Straub's complaint said Fleming had never been an "owner" of any Miss America entity and sued her for breach of fiduciary duties and obligations, "at will" employment agreement, temporary and permanent injunctive relief, and trademark infringement.

His complaint sought $20 million in damages.

April 29, 2024: Straub said he was Miss America's owner in a letter to staffers.

Straub sent a letter to Miss America directors and licensees in late December 2022 stating that he had "purchased all the assets of the former Miss America Organization."

He also said he hired Fleming to run Miss America and terminated her "after we received damaging information and conducted an extensive audit of her conduct while working with the organization."

In response to the letter, Krebs and other former Miss America board members told licensees and directors via email they had "voted unanimously to transfer the assets to Robin Fleming."

Straub also hosted Zoom meetings with Miss America licensees and contractual partners in May, during which he said he was Miss America's owner and had fired Fleming as CEO.

July 29, 2024: Straub said he planned to file for bankruptcy on Miss America's behalf.

According to a court docket reviewed by BI, Straub and Fleming were ordered to hold a "conciliation conference" to discuss his state-level lawsuit against her.

In her lawsuit, Fleming said Straub used the meeting to "directly threaten, intimidate and extort" her. She said Straub told her he wanted to "shut down Miss America," called himself "Hamas" and Fleming "Israel," and said he was Hitler.

Her complaint also said that Straub said he "intended to file for bankruptcy on behalf of her Miss America" during the meeting.

Fall of 2024: Fleming said Straub made defamatory statements about her

Fleming said Straub sent additional letters to state executive directors in September saying he had fired her, and, in November 2024, he publicly said she was funding her legal defense through Miss America's scholarship fund.

Her suit described his statements as defamatory and led to potential business deals to fall through.

Notably, the complaint said the "organizers of the iconic Macy's Thanksgiving parade withdrew their invitation to have Miss America participate in the parade, which has been a yearly tradition since the 1940s."

November 22, 2024: Straub filed a bankruptcy petition on behalf of Miss America.

Straub filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Florida on behalf of Miss America Competition, LLC.

Fleming filed an emergency response to the bankruptcy filing on November 25, saying the bankruptcy was "a 'scorched earth' litigation strategy to attempt to sabotage the upcoming Miss America Competition and cause reputational harm to Ms. Fleming."

In the response, Fleming said Straub could not file for bankruptcy for Miss America Corporation because she is its sole member, manager, and owner.

November 28, 2024: Fleming filed a complaint against Straub, Galle, Kathleen A. Fialco, and Palm Beach Polo, Inc. in the Southern District of Florida.

Fleming's suit lists 32 causes of action, including fraud, defamation, and more. She is seeking $500 million in damages for herself and Miss America.

In her complaint, she said she was the rightful owner of Miss America and provided a timeline for its purchase, details of Straub's involvement, and evidence that Straub and his attorney created false documentation to show he owned it.

Fleming's case was dismissed on December 4, 2024, without prejudice, with the court requesting Fleming's lawyers condense their complaint.

Fleming told BI on Thursday that she would file a new version of the suit before the new December 20 deadline.

• Some people are turning to "loyalty tests" to check if their partners are cheating.
• Companies are cashing in, connecting users to testers for a fee.
• Even when someone "passes," a test can pose problems for couples.

It's no secret: Dating in the digital age is hard.

Knowing when to change your Facebook relationship status or "soft launch" your relationship is stressful enough, but the internet has also made cheating easier than ever.

"The digital age has provided a million more ways to cheat or be deceptive or be disloyal in a relationship than in the past," Landis Bejar, a wedding therapist and the founder of AisleTalk, told Business Insider.

Some lovers have turned to "loyalty tests" to see if their partners are faithful, tapping strangers to catch their significant others being disloyal by sending incriminating direct messages, hoping for an untoward reply. Now, companies like Lazo and Loyalty-Test are cashing in on the trend.

One woman who paid to test her partner told Business Insider she wished she had used the service sooner.

Helping others who get cheated on

A tester who goes by Ari on Loyalty-Test for privacy reasons but whose identity is known to BI said she first became familiar with the app as a customer.

"I was the one that wanted to test my partner," she said. "He ended up passing by default. He didn't respond."

Ari said she appreciated the process and became interested in being a tester. So, she signed up.

"In the past, with relationships, I would get a lot of unfaithful partners, and I would have loved to have this sooner," Ari said. "I definitely wanted to be the one to help people out."

Now, Ari works as a hairstylist by day and performs between five and eight loyalty tests weekly. She sticks to digital tests and charges $55 for a day of testing.

"I've noticed people do fold very quickly," she said. "It usually happens within the first day."

Ari said she starts her work with clients by asking what they think of as a pass or fail to ensure they agree.

"Usually, I'll explain the process that I'm going to do, and if they have specific things they want me to say, then I go by what they want me to say," she said.

Some of her clients are in committed relationships and suspect cheating when they hire her. Others are about to take a step with someone, like becoming exclusive or moving in together, and want to use a loyalty test to confirm they're making the right decision.

Ari said it can be difficult when she has to tell clients their partners are failing a test, both because she feels empathy toward them and because she has been cheated on.

"The length that they would go to be sneaky, you know, it's a little triggering sometimes," she said.

'Loyalty tests' are on the rise

Videos about loyalty tests started going viral online around 2021, and they all followed a similar blueprint.

A "tester" messages someone's partner on social media at their request and pretends to want to date them. If the person shows interest in the fake suitor, they fail the test. If they don't, they pass.

As the trend became more popular, companies started offering anonymous tests for a fee.

Lazo began testing potential cheaters in January, Ashlyn Nakasu, the company's community manager, told BI. Lazo's team aims for the app to provide people unfettered access to the truth in a relationship.

Lazo has about 400 checkers that charge a range of fees, though they typically start at $40. For that fee, a tester will message your partner, pretending to be interested in them to see if they cross a boundary.

"You never know if you're actually going to get the whole truth out of people," Nakasu told BI, as many people don't immediately confess if their partner accuses them of cheating.

"We wanted to offer a solution that was more affordable and less time-consuming," Nakasu said, referring to hiring a private investigator. According to the job platform Bark, the average cost of a private investigator in the US is $85 per hour, and their services can range from digital investigation to trailing your partner.

Loyalty-Tests, launched in January 2023, offers digital and in-person tests for a fee set by the testers. As founder and CEO Brandan Balasingham told BI, testers sign up to work for the company on the app like Uber drivers. The company then sifts through applicants to see who would be a good tester before they get approved to take on clients.

Some testers charge as little as $10 for a digital test, but the in-person tests, in which a tester meets up with a potential cheater at a client's direction, can cost upward of $500.

As of November 2024, Balasingham said Loyalty-Test averaged 10 to 20 customers daily.

Both Lazo and Loyalty-Tests said their clients are seeing real results.

Nakasu said 60% of Lazo users' partners pass the loyalty tests. Balasingham said the latest data from Loyalty-Tests shows a discrepancy between the results of men and women being tested. About 60% of men fail, while around 30% of women do.

Establish trust early

Although loyalty tests have become popular, Bejar said they shouldn't be the norm in a healthy relationship.

"There's no relationship without trust," Bejar said. "If we don't have trust, we have to completely manage another person and oversee another person to ensure they're going to do what they say they are. And that can't work in a relationship."

Dramatic acts like cheating can erode trust, but smaller "ruptures," as Bejar calls them, like not doing something you said you would or telling white lies, can damage the bond between you and your partner just as easily.

In that sense, conducting a loyalty test against your partner can be a betrayal in the same way that cheating is. Whether someone passes a loyalty test or not, the relationship is likely in trouble if someone feels the need to conduct one.

Bejar does think there are some situations where a loyalty test could be helpful, though, particularly in an abusive relationship.

"If a loyalty test can break someone out of that kind of contrived reality that an abusive person has created for them, that by definition is really hard to get out of, then I think there's a place for it," Bejar said.

Still, if you want to use a loyalty test instead of organically building trust with your partner over time, Bejar said that's likely a sign you need to reflect on why building trust seems hard. She added that you should set boundaries with your partner to ensure you agree on the definition of betrayal.

"Love can be blinding, and we can overlook things," she said. "You need to know what a dealbreaker is to you so that if you are in love with somebody and they cross one of your boundaries, you can walk away even though it's hard and sad."

• Taylor Swift released "The Eras Tour Book" at Target on Friday.
• It instantly became Target's best-selling book of the year.
• The book had some issues, from typos to printing mistakes.

Black Friday was a Swiftie holiday this year — though it didn't bring every fan holiday cheer.

Taylor Swift released "The Eras Tour Book" along with a vinyl and CD version of "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology" on Friday.

Eager fans lined up in the wee hours of the morning to get a copy. Business Insider spoke to shoppers who arrived at a Lynchburg, Virginia, store at 3 a.m. to ensure they could secure the book and vinyl album.

Amid the excitement of a new Swift product, some fans quickly pointed out that the book had multiple printing and layout errors. Publishing experts told Business Insider that Swift's decision to self-publish might have contributed to the hiccups.

Representatives for Swift, Target, and ST8MNT, the brand agency credited with art direction, design, and illustration, did not respond to requests for comment.

The 'Errors' Tour Book

Swift sidestepped traditional publishers for her 256-page coffee table book, publishing it through Taylor Swift Publications and selling it exclusively at Target for $39.99. It features over 500 images, some of which fans had never seen, and Swift's musings on the tour.

Following the book's release, some Swifties posted on social media about issues they noticed in their copies of "The Eras Tour Book" — or as they called it, "The Errors Tour Book," a nod to an inside joke between Swifties to refer to mistakes the singer made on the tour.

Some of these problems seemingly appear in multiple copies, like the "Folklore" song "This Is Me Trying" being listed as "This Is Me Rying" in a section about surprise songs. The same section lists "Gold Rush," a track from "Evermore," as one word, even though the song is two words.

Likewise, the book listed Swift's stop in Toronto as "November 14-16, 22-23," but she also played in the city on November 21.

Shoppers also questioned the book's layout and photos. A handful of pictures of Swift were arranged in a two-page spread with the singer in the center, which fans said made it difficult to see her.

Others said images in the book appeared slightly blurry, which made them wonder if they were stills from "The Eras Tour" film instead of high-resolution shots.

Aside from typos, Swift's written sections — including notes to the fans, paragraphs about each era of the tour, and information about her pre-show rituals — garnered mixed responses, with some expecting more insights from Swift herself despite it being largely marketed as a photo book.

Eryn Kieffer, a 23-year-old content creator and longtime Swiftie from Los Angeles, told BI she loved the sections Swift wrote but had anticipated more behind-the-scenes content.

"I thought there would be a lot more little blurbs about the making of the show," she said. "Not full essays, but like, 'Oh, here's me behind stage,' you know, little things and a few more behind-the-scenes pictures."

Still, Kieffer said she would have wanted the book even if she had known there wouldn't be as much behind-the-scenes content.

Many other fans also shared how much they loved the book on social media in the days after the book's release, regardless of production missteps.

Printing problems

The biggest problem with the book appeared to be printing issues in certain copies of Swift's book. The text was bleeding off the pages in some — though it's unclear if that was a stylistic choice — and others said they had books printed entirely upside down or with folds on random pages.

Erik Hane, the founder of Headwater Literary Management, told BI that working with a traditional publisher may have helped Swift avoid the typos and misprints.

"The errors being described are ones that a competent production department — or honestly, most production departments of any quality — at a traditional publisher would have caught and corrected before printing," he said.

"This is especially true for the quality and caliber of publishers that would have been available to Taylor Swift had she chosen to traditionally publish," Hane added.

Jessika Hazelton, manager and creative director at The Troy Book Makers, a book publisher based in Schodack Landing, New York, told BI that a rushed timeline could also have contributed to the errors.

"We often tell our clients there is no such thing as a perfect book," Hazelton said. "Even if the copy was well-edited, and everything was reviewed carefully before the book goes to print, it is possible for mistakes to slip through."

"For something like this 'Eras Tour Book,' I suspect there was a tight deadline to get the book out in time for the holidays, and it was not looked over as thoroughly as it might have been," she said.

Hane told BI that Swift's business reasons for self-publishing — like saving money and having total creative control — made sense. Still, the errors might be a side effect of that decision.

"This is one of the drawbacks of that choice: You don't get the production expertise that would have caught and corrected these mistakes and perhaps would have even added value to the physical package of the book in other ways we'll never know about," he said.

Traditionally published books can have errors, too

Traditionally published books aren't always error-free.

For instance, when Red Tower published Rebecca Yarros' "Iron Flame" in November 2023, readers said they received misprinted copies, sharing photos and videos of books printed backward or crooked.

Likewise, social media users shared that they received misprinted copies of Sally Rooney's "Intermezzo," published by the Macmillan imprint Farrar, Straus and Giroux in September.

Red Tower and Macmillan did not respond to requests for comment from BI.

Despite the misprints, Swift's decision to self-publish seemed to pay off from a business perspective.

A Target representative told BI that by 10 a.m. ET on Friday, just hours after it became available, "The Eras Tour Book" had become Target's highest-selling book of 2024. On Sunday, Swift also released a second stock of "The Tortured Poet's Department: The Anthology" vinyl at Target to meet fans' demand.

• The 2024 Fashion Awards took place in London on Monday.
• Celebrities like Rihanna and Halle Bailey wowed on the red carpet.
• Others like Joe Jonas and Daisy Ridley didn't have their best fashion moments at the event.

It might have been "Monday Night Football" in America, but it was Monday night fashion across the pond.

The 2024 Fashion Awards took place in London on Monday, raising money for the BFC Foundation, which supports the British fashion industry.

Several celebrities, models, and designers attended the event, walking the red carpet in high-fashion looks.

Some red-carpet outfits, like Rihanna's coatdress, were perfect, while other stars, such as Joe Jonas, missed the mark.

Here are the best and worst looks of the night.

• Jennifer L. Armentrout is releasing the sixth "Blood and Ash" book in June 2025.
• Armentrout's "Blood and Ash" and "Flesh and Fire" series are interconnected, which can confuse readers.
• Here's the best reading order for a spoiler-free experience.

As a devoted reader of fantasy and romance books, it's no surprise I binged Jennifer L. Armentrout's New York Times bestselling "Blood and Ash" series. 

I stumbled upon the first book in the series, which is published by Blue Box Press, on Goodreads after finishing Sarah J. Maas' "A Court of Thorns and Roses."

I was delighted to find it scratched the itch for a tension-filled, magical story "ACOTAR" had left in my life.

I've since become a huge fan of "Blood and Ash" and its companion series, "Flesh and Fire," which Armentrout has been publishing since 2021. 

Armentrout released the fourth "Flesh and Fire" novel, "Born of Blood and Ash" in August, and she is set to publish the sixth book in the "Blood and Ash" series, "The Primal of Blood and Bone," in June 2025.

'Blood and Ash' is an ongoing fantasy series about a Maiden questioning her fate

In the first book of the series, "From Blood and Ash," readers meet Poppy, an 18-year-old who is more than just a girl. The gods have chosen her as the Maiden, and when she turns 19, she will be given to them to help turn humans into the Ascended, immortal beings that rule her kingdom, Solis.

Poppy has always known her fate, but living as the Maiden hasn't been easy. She must always wear a veil in public, no one is allowed to touch her, and she spends most of her time alone. So when she meets Hawke, a new guard who treats her like a person instead of a symbol, she finds herself questioning her commitment to the gods.

But the Ascended and Hawke are both keeping secrets, and when Poppy finds out the truth about them — and herself — everything in her life will change.

Armentrout's world becomes a sweeping tale of magic and warring kingdoms as Poppy comes into her power throughout the "Blood and Ash" series, which has five published installments: 

• "From Blood and Ash"
• "A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire"
• "The Crown of Gilded Bones"
• "The War of Two Queens"
• "A Soul of Ash and Blood"

"A Soul of Ash and Blood" technically takes place after "The War of Two Queens," but the majority of the book is told through flashbacks that bring readers back to the timeline in "From Blood and Ash." 

Armentrout is set to release the next installment in the series, "The Primal of Blood and Bone," on June 10, 2025.

Armentrout also created a prequel series to 'Blood and Ash'

Armentrout has published a prequel series to "Blood and Ash" called "Flesh and Fire."

The series exists in the same world as the "Blood and Ash" books, but it takes place thousands of years before Poppy is even born.

Like Poppy, Seraphena Mierel is a Maiden, promised to the Primal of Death in a bargain designed to save her people from a rot spreading across their lands in the first installment in the series, "A Shadow in the Ember."

But Sera is a double agent, and she has trained her whole life in secret as an assassin so she can break down the Primal's defenses and kill him when he's vulnerable. But when she finally meets the Primal, he's nothing like Sera expected, awakening urges in her she didn't know she had. 

Four installments of the series are available to read, as the fourth book was published in August 2024:

• "A Shadow in the Ember"
• "A Light in the Flame"
• "A Fire in the Flesh"
• "Born of Blood and Ash"

Armentrout also published a companion book to both series, "Visions of Flesh and Blood," in February 2024. It's essentially a guide to the "Blood and Ash" universe, providing character breakdowns and histories for both series.

The plots of the two series are interconnected, so you shouldn't read them separately

The events and characters of "Flesh and Fire" overlap with those in "Blood and Ash." In fact, "The War of Two Queens" is difficult to understand if you haven't read "A Shadow in the Ember."

But the "Flesh and Fire" series also contains spoilers about Poppy's adventures, so it doesn't make sense to read them before you start the "Blood and Ash" series. 

Armentrout also said on her website that the series' "two timelines will also merge in the future, bringing the characters together in the 'Blood and Ash' books," so you can't read either series alone. 

Because you'll need to read all of the books from both series to fully grasp either story, I recommend reading the books that are currently published as one interconnected series in the following order: 

• "From Blood and Ash"
• "A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire"
• "The Crown of Gilded Bones
• "A Shadow in the Ember"
• "The War of Two Queens"
• "A Light in the Flame"
• "A Soul of Ash and Blood"
• "A Fire in the Flesh"
• "Born of Blood and Ash"

Basically, you'll read three books about Poppy, and then you'll take a quick break to introduce yourself to Sera in "A Shadow in the Ember." After that, you'll basically be alternating between Poppy and Sera's stories.

This order allows you to enjoy "Blood and Ash" without spoilers and ensures you will fully digest "The War of Two Queens" without feeling confused. 

Plus, "Blood and Ash" can get a little overwhelming as the world becomes larger. The tension between Sera and the Primal in "Flesh and Fire" was a welcome tone shift that made me want to continue reading both series as new installments are released. 

And despite the flashbacks, I wouldn't give into the temptation to read "A Soul of Ash and Blood" in tandem with "From Blood and Ash." It contains too many spoilers about the series to be read right after or in tandem with "From Blood and Ash" despite the fact that it mostly tells the same story as the first installment in the series. It actually works best as a refresher on "Blood and Ash," recentering you in Poppy's world before her story continues. 

You don't have to read "Visions of Flesh and Blood" at all if you don't want to, but don't read it until after you finish "A Fire in the Flesh" if you do decide to add it to your collection. It features several spoilers for both series, as Armentrout notes on her website. 

And if you want advice on how to read Sarah J. Maas' books, you can find out more here.

• I fell in love with Joanna Gaines' biscuits at the Magnolia Table restaurant in Waco, Texas. 
• I made the biscuits myself, even though I'm not an experienced baker.
• They're delicious and easy to make, and they'd be the perfect addition to a holiday dinner.

Whether you're a mashed potato fan or a mac and cheese enthusiast, I think most people would agree that side dishes are the most exciting part of Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner (aside from dessert, of course). 

And this year, I humbly suggest you add Joanna Gaines' biscuits to your array of holiday sides. I know biscuits are often relegated to breakfast, but after trying them at Chip and Joanna Gaines' restaurant and making them myself, I think they're the perfect holiday carb. 

Joanna's biscuits are decadent but surprisingly easy to make, even for an amateur baker like me. 

• "Throne of Glass" is one of beloved fantasy author Sarah J. Maas' series.
• You can read its eight installments in different sequences, which confuses some fans.
• Here's my recommendation for the best reading order for the series.

Like many romantasy fans, I fell in love with Sarah J. Maas' "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series after discovering it on TikTok.

I devoured Maas' books about faeries and then quickly turned my attention to her first series, "Throne of Glass," hoping it would give me a similar feeling to the books I'd come to love.

To my delight, "Throne of Glass" was everything I hoped it would be, as it was full of the magic and romance I'd loved in "ACOTAR," plus even more adventure and character depth. 

This article contains minor spoilers for Maas' works.

'Throne of Glass' is an 8-book fantasy series about a notorious assassin

In "Throne of Glass," world-renowned assassin Celaena Sardothien has been stuck in a prison camp for over a year, wasting away at just 18 years old in Adarlan, a kingdom where magic disappeared years ago.

She gets a second chance at life when Prince Dorian offers her a deal: She can win her freedom by competing against 23 other killers to become the royal assassin for his father, the King of Adarlan. Celaena agrees despite her personal feelings toward the king, determined to earn her freedom.

As the competition progresses, contestants start dying mysteriously, and Celaena discovers she may have to confront her past to safeguard her future. 

I was utterly captivated by "Throne of Glass," and Celaena's world only becomes more exciting in the other seven books in the series.

While I think the series is worth a read (or two or three if you love it as much as I do), it can be difficult to know where to start, as there are multiple reading orders for the books. 

There's a debate over the proper 'Throne of Glass' reading order

"Throne of Glass" was published by Bloomsbury in August 2012, but Maas had already published four novellas online about Celaena before it was released. The publisher later released the novellas, plus one more story, as one book, "The Assassin's Blade," in March 2013. 

The events in "The Assassin's Blade" take place chronologically before those in "Throne of Glass," and its plot is crucial for the second half of the series. 

Some fans choose to read the books in chronological order: 

• "The Assassin's Blade"
• "Throne of Glass"
• "Crown of Midnight"
• "Heir of Fire"
• "Queen of Shadows"
• "Empire of Storms" and "Tower of Dawn" in tandem
• "Kingdom of Ash"

I don't think that order offers the best reading experience. Maas intentionally leaves the revelations from "The Assassin's Blade" out of "Throne of Glass," "Crown of Midnight," and "Heir of Fire," so if you read it before the first three novels in the series, you'll be exposed to spoilers you wouldn't be otherwise. 

Instead, if you want a captivating, spoiler-free "Throne of Glass" experience, I recommend reading the series in its publication order rather than its chronological order:

• "Throne of Glass"
• "Crown of Midnight"
• "Heir of Fire"
• "The Assassin's Blade"
• "Queen of Shadows"
• "Empire of Storms"
• "Tower of Dawn"
• "Kingdom of Ash"

I would have enjoyed the first half of Maas' series no matter what order I read the books in. Still, the information revealed in "The Assasin's Blade" definitely would have made "Throne of Glass," "Crown of Midnight," and "Heir of Fire" less suspenseful if I had read it first. 

Don't skip 'Tower of Dawn'

"Throne of Glass" fans also have differing opinions on when to read "Empire of Storms" and "Tower of Dawn," which came out in 2016 and 2017, respectively. 

Despite their different publication dates, the events of the sixth and seventh installments of the series happen concurrently in different parts of the "Throne of Glass" universe.

Most people read the two books in the order they were released, but "Empire of Storms" ends on a cliffhanger that is not resolved until the last novel in the series, "Kingdom of Ash." When I first read the books, I found it somewhat difficult to focus on the events of "Tower of Dawn" because I was so concerned about what would occur in "Kingdom of Ash," even though the plot was riveting.

Some people choose to tandem read the two novels, switching back and forth between them to read the events in "real-time."

You may also see some BookTokers saying they skipped reading "Tower of Dawn" completely because it doesn't center on the protagonist, which I think is a colossal mistake. The events of "Tower of Dawn" are critical to the series' resolution, and you'd be missing vital information if you didn't read them. 

However, if you enjoy minor spoilers, I would read "Tower of Dawn" before "Empire of Storms" on your first pass through the series. You will know some snippets of what occurs in "Empire of Storms" before you read it, but you may save yourself from the anxiety-riddled experience of reading an entire 600-page book between the cliffhanger ending of "Empire of Storms" and its resolution in "Kingdom of Ash."

And if you're new to the Sarah J. Maas universe, I'd recommend reading the "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series before you even touch "Throne of Glass." You should also save her "Crescent City" series for last, as Maas created a multiverse with her different series that won't make sense without the context "ACOTAR" and "Throne of Glass" provide. 

You can read more about the best order to read all of Maas' books here.

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