It’s been a rough road for Tarek El Moussa since the demise of his marriage to his Flip or Flop co-star, Christina El Moussa — and In Touch can exclusively reveal that he is struggling to watch her succeed.

While the blonde beauty has been presented with various new opportunities, such as Dancing With the Stars, a source reveals that Tarek “seems stuck in neutral after the split.”

“He hates that Christina has been getting more publicity than him,” says an insider. “He still wants to outshine Christina in every way possible.”

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Our source adds the father-of-two, who previously opened up about his cancer battle, has even been trying to “one-up” his estranged wife.

However, that doesn’t mean that he hasn’t ruled out hope for a reconciliation, despite acting verbally abusive on-set to Christina while filming their HGTV series.

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“He’s tried to persuade Christina by saying it will be great for their business and open so many doors for huge payouts, but Christina is not buying it. She knows she’s fine without him and doesn’t feel bad for Tarek because, as she’s told friends, he put her through hell,” says the source.

While Tarek briefly moved on from their split with nanny Alyssa Logan, Christina has since been linked to contractor Gary Anderson and most recently NHL star Nate Thompson, who plays for the Anaheim Ducks.

The couple announced they would split after seven years of marriage in December and he filed for divorce the following month.

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“I feel like if we had better communication, we would have had a better relationship. I think as time went on, you get busier and busier. It was like overnight: businesses, TV, all these things happened overnight, then the cancer and the back surgery. It just kind of started pushing us apart from each other,” he previously revealed on an episode of The Doctors.

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