Christina El Moussa is El Moussa no more! The Flip or Flop star told PEOPLE following her secret Saturday wedding to British TV personality Ant Anstead that she is now going by her new husband’s surname.
“Christina Anstead,” she told the publication. “It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”
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The couple, who had been dating for just about a year, shocked fans and guests alike on Dec. 22 with a surprise wedding. Christina told PEOPLE that the pair had invited 70 of their closest friends and family to their home that day, where they were transported via charter bus to the Newport Beach Christmas Boat Parade.
“We couldn’t be any happier!” she added.
The newlyweds exchanged vows in front of their four children, all of whom are from previous marriages. Christina shares daughter Taylor, 8, and son Brayden, 3, with ex Tarek El Moussa, and Ant has daughter Amelie, 15, and son Archie, 12, from a previous marriage.
“We wanted to make it about the kids,” Anstead said. “It’s the six of us. We are a blended family so it was really important for them to be a part of it.”
“It was just perfect for us,” added the HGTV star. “Everything we wanted.”
Keeping the whole wedding a secret was no easy task, but was pulled off by the Flip or Flop star’s publicist and friend Cassie Zebisch. “We literally owe this wedding to her,” the HGTV star gushed. “She pulled it off. She met with the vendors, she set up the catering. I wanted a Maestros theme, like a nice steakhouse. She did it all!”
“Every day we were checking the internet to see if anyone found out,” she added to the magazine. “Then the day we went to get our marriage license, the guy working was like hyperventilating, excited. We had to tell him this is a huge secret. No one knows.”
Before the wedding, Anstead penned a gushing tribute to his now-wife in a one-year anniversary Instagram post.
“Happy anniversary to the single most amazing, beautiful, talented, fun, funny lady on the entire planet! What we have is so RARE! Looking back at this mad and crazy past year… we’ve lived in four houses, and finally found a home together!” Anstead wrote. “We’ve been to London, South Africa, Ireland, Mexico, Hawaii and all over the U.S.! Serious amount of air miles! Your the single best travel buddy EVER! From the flat on the face trip overs in Dallas to the police at Buckingham Palace!”
Photo credit: Getty / Lou Rocco
