HGTV host and Christina on the Coast star Christina Hall has been through a lot of personal and professional ups and downs over the past several years. While she joyfully married real estate agent Joshua Hall earlier this year in a ceremony so secretive that fans only knew about it once she changed her last name from Haack, the former Flip or Flop designer is now working through co-parenting with both her first ex-husband and his new wife, Tarek and Heather Rae El Moussa, and her second ex-husband, Celebrity IOU: Joyride host Ant Anstead. While Hall has been candid this summer about the priorities of co-parenting, though, she’s also still involved in a custody battle with Anstead.
Why Are Christina Hall And Ant Anstead In A Custody Battle For Their Young Son?
In late April, fans of both Christina Hall and Ant Anstead were shocked when Anstead (who’s now moved on romantically with Oscar winner Renée Zellweger) decided to file for full custody of the former couple’s 2-year-old son, Hudson London, and cited some shocking claims against Hall and her parenting skills.
According to the documents in the filing, which were obtained by TMZ, Anstead alleged that Hall had only been able to spend roughly “9 full days each month” over the course of the past 20 months with Hudson, and that when the boy is with her, Hall posts him all over her social media, including in paid promotions, leading Anstead to request that the judge stop her from using their child in any “commercial endeavor” unless Anstead had agreed to such activity beforehand.
He also claimed that Hall hadn’t been taking proper care when Hudson was with her, including times where she returned him to Anstead badly sunburnt and after her family had had COVID while Hudson was with them. And, Anstead cited her confirmed use of hallucinogenic toad venom as yet another reason that she was an unsafe parent.
The judge denied Anstead’s move for full custody later on the same day as his filing, stating that he gave an “insufficient showing” of evidence when trying to prove that Hall was unsafe, and noting that she wasn’t given enough notice about his petition, and is allowed time to be able to argue her side of the case.
Accusations Of Bad Behavior From Hall And Anstead’s Camps As Custody Battle Goes On
Throughout Hall’s many troubles since she and Anstead split in September 2020 after less than two full years of marriage, she’s been very outspoken, especially on social media, about dealing with the divorce and other aspects of her personal life. So, Hall did not take his accusations quietly. While Joshua Hall spoke out a few days after the filing, Christina filed a response with the court the same day (via Us Weekly), which said, in part:
I have read the declaration of Mr. Anstead and was shocked to see the false allegations against me. And his belief that he has been failing to protect our son by sharing custodial time with me. I will not speculate as to his true motivations, but Hudson’s best interest is not what is motivating his application to the Court … Mr. Anstead is simply trying to smear my good name and tarnish my image.
Furthermore, a source to Us Weekly said that Hall did, in fact, attempt to head off any legal filings by Anstead when she began to feel that he wasn’t sticking to their previously arranged custody agreement, even though “she was being flexible with him.” According to the source, Hall had her lawyer send Anstead an email letting him know they need to stick to their custody schedule and that she’d retained representation should their issues worsen. However, a source close to Anstead said this wasn’t the case, noting that Hall had been trying recently “to give the illusion of being a hands-on and present parent,” and said:
Out of the blue, Christina tried to change the established schedule to suddenly wanting Hudson half the time. This was conveniently timed with her new show filming in Tennesse. Christina spent the days leading up to the filing attempting to bind Ant to an NDA rather than agree to what’s best for Hudson. She was not blindsided.
Where Does The Custody Battle Between Christina Hall And Ant Anstead Stand Now?
While Hall seems to be having a better time co-parenting with the El Moussas, with all of them coming together when their son, Brayden, had a health scare, there has been no word on any developments in the custody case between Hall and Anstead since mid-May. That was when Us Weekly reported that a judge ordered the duo to attend private mediation on June 15, to see if they could work out their visitation and custody problems before their scheduled hearing on June 28.
We don’t know right now if that mediation appointment led to a new custody agreement, or if Christina Hall and Ant Anstead had to keep their court date, but, hopefully, they’ll be able to come to some agreement soon that works for both of them and benefits Hudson the best.
