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In late July, Tarek El Moussa was spotted getting hot and heavy with Heather Rae Young, the Netflix star.

Since then, the two have gone Instagram official and been interviewed as a couple, even celebrating Tarek’s birthday together.

Now, Tarek is being totally honest — he didn’t actually tell his ex-wife about Heather. He let the news do that for him.

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On August 8, more than a week after they were spotted together, Tarek and Heather went Instagram official.

"it’s official!!!!" Tarek wrote in his captions.

He continued: "After more than 3 years on my own I’m so PROUD to say that this beautiful, sweet and talented young lady is my girlfriend!"

"I’ll be honest and say I never thought I would meet someone special in my life after the last three years," Tarek confessed.

"Then…out of the blue," he marveled. "@heatherraeyoung walked into my life."

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"The first time I saw her smile she “did that thing to my tummy,”" Tarek says.

He doesn’t mean one of various kinky things, but rather dazzled him with her looks enough to make his heart race and to make him nervous.

"And," he recalled. "I knew right away I needed to get to know her… "

"So I asked her out!!" he narrated. "She said yes."

Tarek gushed: "I just want to let the world know I met someone special that makes me want to be a better man "

Photo via Twitter

August 21 was Tarek’s birthday, and Heather was excited to celebrate with him.

"Happy happy happy birthday @therealtarekelmoussa," Heather raved on her own Instagram page.

She wrote: "since you came into my life I haven’t stopped smiling."

"When I’m with you," she praised. "The world stops."

"So excited to share your special day with you," Heather affirmed.

She concluded her caption by writing: "You + Me."

Photo via Getty

Now, Tarek was interviewed on Strahan, Sara, and Keke and grilled about his steamy romance with Heather.

Keke asked: "What were her thoughts about, you know, ‘He’s working with his ex-wife,’ what were your thoughts about telling her that?"

What she means by that is whether and when Tarek told Christina, his ex, about Heather.

"We were together for a short period of time," Tarek says of Heather back in July.

"And." he acknowledges. "We got caught with some paparazzi photos on the back of my boat"

Tarek emphasizes that this took place "after we had just started dating,"

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"So I’m like, ‘OK, well, the cat’s out of the bag,’" Tarek explains.

He wondered at the time if he should call Christina, who has already remarried to Ant Anstead, to let her know that the news had broken.

"’So, should I tell my ex-wife? Should I not?’ …" he recalls asking himself.

"So I guess," Tarek says. "The world just let everybody know that we were together."

Sometimes it’s like that — especially when you’re a celebrity.

The only thing that changes when you make it official is that tabloids and blogs get to drop the "alleged" before the word "girlfriend."