The divorce between Flip or Flop stars Tarek El Moussa and Christina El Moussa has been dominating the headlines recently, but now, disturbing details about the former real estate agent’s treatment of his wife have surfaced.

An eyewitness tells Life & Style that the HGTV star threatened to rape the blonde beauty in front of the show’s crew, leaving everyone who heard it appalled. “[He said] ‘Shut up, woman, or I’ll rape you.’ He actually joked about raping Christina on more than one occasion. Tarek thinks it’s funny,” the witness shares.

MORE: ‘Flip or Flop’ Star Christina El Moussa Moves Forward With Plans for a Spinoff

The behind-the-scenes team did their best to protect Christina from the abuse, and during a discussion last spring “the crew was asked to be efficient with takes so that there was no downtime for Tarek and Christina on set,” the source recalls. “When there’s downtime, bad things happen.”

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Sometimes, things got so tense between the couple that the TV host sought refuge in her car. Tarek’s actions were “a huge factor in their marriage falling apart,” an HGTV insider admits. “Christina hit a breaking point and couldn’t stand to be around him anymore. She fell out of love.”

As In Touch previously revealed, Tarek would often humiliate the mother of his two children by using vulgar terms or acting inappropriately. “Tarek found humor in insulting his wife in repeated verbal attacks. Some of his bad behavior was even caught on camera [in footage that never aired],” a source told the site.

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He even reduced Christina to tears on multiple occasions, calling her a “whore” or worse. “He said things like that all the time and then laughed about it,” the source added. “Tarek treated Christina like garbage.”

For more on the duo’s divorce, pick up the latest issue of Life & Style, on newsstands now.

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